


Kyung's Perspective

by Darth_Rainbow_Queen_Of_Coconuts



Category: Extraordinary You, Fandoms:어쩌다 발견한 하루 | Extraordinary You (TV)
Genre: Gen, I added one character but I swear she isn't omnipresent and she's nobody's love interest or whatever, I really wanted to give Sae Mi a redemption too, It's all about Baek Kyung and his progression, It's honestly just a focus on Baek Kyung trying to get better at being a full person, It's one step forward three steps back basically, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:13:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Rainbow_Queen_Of_Coconuts/pseuds/Darth_Rainbow_Queen_Of_Coconuts
Summary: Or, we follow Baek Kyung as he try to relearn the world he lives in and adapt. With the help of supportive friends he wasn't certain he had.
Relationships: Baek Kyung & Eun Dan Oh, Baek Kyung & Lee Do Hwa, Baek Kyung & Oh Nam Joo, Baek Kyung & Shin Sae Mi, Eun Dan Oh & Shin Sae Mi, Eun Dan Oh/Ha Ru (background), Lee Do Hwa & Eun Dan Oh, Oh Nam Joo & Lee Do Hwa, Shin Sae Mi & Oh Nam Joo, one sided Baek Kyung/Eun Dan Oh
Kudos: 14





	Kyung's Perspective

Bumping shoulders with a shorter female, the A3 member looked up from his phone, a frown written on his features. She seemed to have stilled in front of him, startled with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. " _Kojo_."

The female's brows creased together, head lightly tilting to the side as she asked: " _Mwo?_ "

"Get lost." He clarified, having no energy whatsoever to deal with a stupid extra with the memory of a goldfish and absolutely no valid reason to like him.

The girl scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "I seriously don't get why girls like this guy." She mumbled, purposefull bumping shoulders with him as she walked past him. "Do Hwa deserves more credit than he gets for putting up with him and Oh Nam Ju." She went on, as she distanced herself.

"What?" Baek Kyung paused, brows now creasing together as he registered in the words. Spinning on his feet he called after her, intimating her to wait. "Don't you love me?" He asked, as she glanced over her shoulder, looking at him with utter disdain.

"Why would I?" She asked before taking off.

The male blinked, taken aback for a second. Could other extras become... aware? And more importantly, could she freely move within a scene too? "Wait!" He called, rushing to follow after her. But before he could do anything, he was standing amongst a crowd at the school's bleachers. Huffing, the male watched Yeo Ju Da win a stupid race. Disappointment wrote itself on the male's features as he looked up to Nam Ju, rejoicing harder than anybody else. "Ridiculous." He mumbled. Then blinked, realizing he could move again. "Seriously?" He asked, looking up to the sky. The writer really just wrote him in a scene for that? Scoffing in disbelief, the male glanced around, hoping to get a glimpse of the female from earlier.

Moving amongst the bleachers, jaw clenched as he ran into a growing number of groupies, Baekyung forced himself to remain silent. People lacking self-awareness didn't like to hear that they had no freedom. And perhaps too, was he scared of the replied he'd me bet with if he asked why those girls loved him so much. Finally reaching the bottom, the male started to jog around the field, searching for that one particular girl. He snorted when he saw her, jaw clenched as she refused to give in, left huffing in exertion as all of Nam Ju's fangirls gave in on the tug of wars competition. The girl's gaze met with his, heated with anger. Surprising himself, the tennis player genuinely smiled. He moved towards her, planning to help her out. But again, before his hand could touch the cord, he found himself walking towards Dan Oh, trying to mentally force choke the idiots yelling 'Husband Baek!' over and over again.

"Why did you prepare this?" He asked, eyes falling on the banner his fiancée held. Of course it was written something cute and he had to be an asshole about it.

"Because," Dan Oh tucked strands of hair behind her ears. "I've never participated in a school's sports day before. My time with you has become even more special." She went on, smiling fondly at him. Mercifully, he was allowed the hint of a smile back before the scene ended.

For the first time ever, Baekyung heaved a sigh of relief at the end of a scene, not even finding it in himself to be angry when Dan Oh threw the stupid banner at him. He just rolled his eyes, standing up as well. "Eun Dan Oh," He stilled called. "I get it, the stage is over. And I'm not Haru." He chuckled. "You never seemed to care when it was with him, but he's gone and I don't know where you're going right now. Why won't you just stay by my side? You were supposed to always be by my side. It's natural, for you to like me."

"My true self, never liked you." She replied, bitter in ways that weren't foreign to the male. Baek Kyung opened his mouth to argue but before he could, he stood at the beginning of a race, an arm around Dan Oh's shoulder and a white ribbon linking their ankles together.

The male would have gagged had he been able to as their PE teacher spewed nonsense about the power of love. As per his usual poor taste in dramatics, the writer had to make him inconsiderate, undoing the ribbon that held their feet together as soon as Dan Oh's heart started to race. Of course, he left her to cry on her own.

Feeling too ashamed by his character's behavior to return to his fiancée, the A3 member wandered on his own, a frown etched on his features and a hand shoved in the pocket of his shorts. Someone brought a hand to Baek Kyung's shoulder. The male was further startled when his eyes landed on a forthcoming Haru. Of course, wherever the super extra went, Eun Dan Oh followed. Baek Kyung's features shifted to utter surprise when he saw how coldly Haru spoke to Eun Dan Oh, asking her not to touch him away before he took off, dragging Baek Kyung with him.

Trying to ignore the bothersome sensation of Haru's hand on his shoulder as the two walked, transported into another scene, Baek Kyung focused his gaze on Lee Do Hwa. "Oi, Baek Kyung, are you ignoring me because I'm no longer part of the A3?"

"Oh," The tennis player's gaze grew empty, shifting away from his friend. What the fuck. "I'm sorry." He spoke, sounding absolutely shallow to his own ears. Come on writer, Do Hwa is one of my closest friends, now that's just stupid, he thought.

"And who is that?" Do Hwa asked, glancing towards Haru.

"Oh, he's on the tennis team." Kyung went on, with a frustratingly phlegmatic tone.

" _Annyeong_ Lee Do Hwa." Haru chirpily declared.

" _Annyeong_. Be careful when dealing with Baek Kyung, he might seem cold at first but he's a really good friend."

"Yeah, about you and Nam Ju—" "Don't. It's between him and I." Do Hwa interrupted, a smile on his lips. "I'll see you two at the football game. You better play fair and square!" He warned, grinning before he took off.

Seconds later, Do Hwa returned. The scene had ended and worry was showing on his features as he talked to Haru. Narrowing his eyes as he observed the two, Baek Kyung wondered what exactly was going on. "Who is he?" Do Hwa asked, watching Haru walk away.

"Haru." Baek Kyung replied, keeping his suspicions for himself. At least until he had more clarity.

~^~

"Did you have to make a scene earlier?" Dan Oh asked, releasing his wrist as soon as they were in her room. She was mad at him for acknowledging the shallowness of their relation at dinner, shedding lights on both of their father's hypocritical behavior.

"Why does it matter? They won't remember anyway." The male dismissively replied. "However," He took a careful step towards the female, reducing the distance between them. "your fate, you wanted to change it because you wanted to be more than extra? Or because of your terminal heart-disease? Or...him?" The male's jaw clenched when he was met with silence, and a gaze that uttered hundreds of sentences. "I already told you. Whatever that extra could do for you, so can I. In fact, I'm the only one who can change your fate, me, Baek Hyung, your partner on stage and your fiancé." Dan Oh's lips parted. She visibly tried to formulate a thought but was left silent by the words, tears welling in her eyes. Of course he'd made her cry. He was only good at making her cry.

The next scene was a mercy. For a couple of seconds only. Disgust quickly replaced relief as his father handed him out money, rewarding him for playing with a dying girl's hopes. Baek Kyung chuckled when the stage ended. Happily, did he let the money slip through his fingers, defiance clear in his gaze as he spoke : "So this is my character? The son of a father that sees me as a disposable tool to enrich himself and too scared to be disowned and alone to rebel." Of course, his father hit him for calling him out on his greed. Pathetic, he thought as the man swung at him again. He easily blocked it, pushing him away. In the shadows, he could rebel. Baek Kyung just chuckled judgmentally before walking away, not sparing a single glance behind him.

Eyes growing prickly, the Seulli student retrieved his phone. He considered calling someone, a friend. Then chuckled, covering his eyes with a hand when he realized that he only ever had two friends: Oh Nam Ju and Lee Do Hwa. Eun Dan Oh was obviously out of the way. And his family aside, there was no other number he'd bothered to save. "Wow," he looked up to the side. "you didn't even try with this one, writer." The male swallowed, his gaze growing lost in the distance. "And I didn't either..." He recognized, blinking bothersome tears away. Clearing his throat, Kyung decided to call Do Hwa.

" _Yeoboseyo?_ " Thank God Do Hwa was the kind of person who picked up right away, otherwise he might've just hung up.

"It's me."

Do Hwa chuckled. "I know. I saw the caller ID."

"Right." Baek Kyung cleared his throat. "Wanna hang out?"

"Now? Just us?" The violin player inquired, sounding a little precautious.

"Yes. Just us." Silence fell on the line after those words. Frightening and heavy for the young man who stood alone.

"Okay, I've put my shoes on." A chuckle. "Where shall I meet you? Shall I bring snacks? We should totally watch the sun rise, oh my God, I love that idea. Should we get sandwiches?"

Baek Kyung laughed a little, silent tears of relief rolling down his cheeks. "Yeah, sounds good. I'll meet you in front of Ju Da's sandwich shop."

"H-How did you know?" Do Hwa asked.

Kyung laughed. "I notice things too, you know. You like her, on and off stage."

"Ah, yeah." Do Hwa sighed. "It hurts."

"I know." The male replied gently before heaving a fateful sigh. "Let's get those sandwiches, then we can go to school, play soccer until our feet give in and watch the sun rise."

"Sounds good." Do Hwa replied, making it easy to picture the smile on his face. "Hey, Kyung, do you mind if we stay on the phone?"

"Mhm? No, not really." He replied.

"Thanks." Do Hwa quietly replied. "I missed this. I missed you."

"When was I ever gone?"

"It's not you. It's me. When I became aware, I lost everyone. And when you became aware, you didn't seem angry or bitter. I didn't know if, if I could complain with you. Or to you."

Kyung sighed heavily. "You can. We're friends. I don't care that someone wrote those memories for us, they feel real. We are, real. Our friendship, is, real. Stage or shadows."

"Wow, I didn't knew you could say such cheesy lines offstage too." Do Hwa replied, making the two friends chuckle.

"If I ever say 'I swear on A3's honor' in the shadows, please punch me."

"Oh my God, can we talk about how cliché Nam Ju sounds?"

"Ugh." Kyung grunted. "Can we talk about the Halo that follows him? Sometimes that stuff blinds me."

"Well, that might actually be yours though, Because that halo extends to us when we walk together as a group." Do Hwa informed, laughing.

"Really?" Baek Kyung snorted. "We look cool though, don't we?"

"We do. We do." Do Hwa agreed, excitedly.

~^~

" _Kyung-ah,_ " Do Hwa whispered, looking at the sun as he laid on the grass of the school's football field. The two males had been looking at the sky in silence for a while, collapsing after a short-lived but heated game of football. They'd been laying facing two different directions, their heads besides one another. "Baek Kyung," Lee Do Hwa repeated louder, poking his friend's cheek with his index.

" _Mwo?_ " The male asked, turning his head to look at his friend. Their eyes met, Do Hwa's lips curling up for a second.

"I don't want to pry, because you're fairly private but," Do Hwa sucked on his bottom lip, uncertainty passing in his gaze. "What happened?" He asked, pointing at the corner of his own lips.

Baek Kyung chuckled. "That? It'll be gone by the next stage." He spoke, his eyes turning to the sky as all traces of humor disappeared from his face. His lips parted, no sound coming out for a few seconds as he braced himself. "Well," He cleared his throat. "my father, he," The male cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter." He spoke, voice dying down but gaining sincerity. "At least it wasn't with a golf club this time." He mumbled to himself, eyes falling shut as he loudly inhaled through his nose.

"What?!" Do Hwa sat up. "I didn't read anything about that! Does this happen often?!"

"Of course, it rarely happens on stage." The male chuckled. "He's so ridiculous. He thinks he's powerful. When he's the one who needs me." Another bitter chuckle. "Humiliating him in the shadow almost makes up for it. There, I can protest..."

"But you don't fight back..?" Do Hwa whispered, the look in his friend's eyes enough to tell him he was right. "In the shadows, don't go home anymore. Just come to my house. Promise me."

Baek Kyung opened his mouth, entirely at loss. Struggling with his friend's gaze, the tennis player sat up. "I'll think about it." He carefully replied, blinking away the unpleasant gloss of his eyes.

"BAEK KYUNG-AH!" The male threw his head back, heaving a sigh when the groupies approched.

"I didn't realize it was this late." Do Hwa spoke, standing up and dusting himself off.

"Annyeong, Lee Do Hwa!" One of the two girls still took the time to acknowledge as the other offered a hand to help Kyung up. Of course, he didn't take it and stood on his own.

"Annyeong." Do Hwa replied, because he was nice. He still waved his friend goodbye, eagerly taking his leave as the girls wrapped their arms around an arm of Baek Kyung each, pretexting to catch up with some people from his class.

Kyung glared at his friend's back, but did nothing to actually separate himself from the girls, reveling in the affection. No matter the shallowness.

"We missed you very much last night." A girl said, pressing her head against his arm.

"But we dreamt of you to make up for it." Her friend went on. "And you, did you think of us? Did you have a nice night?"

"I..." The male furrowed his brows. It was out of character to actually acknowledge those two. And pointless since they'd forget all about it. He chose to do it still. "I did." He finally replied, the hint of a smile appearing on his lips. The two students had fallen silent, quietly observing him as they walked.

"Woah, daebak. I never thought he could become prettier. But, _ouri oppa_ is so much more handsome when he smiles, don't you think?" One of the girl asked her friend, who eagerly nodded. Kyung rolled his eyes, a hint of amusement in them.

A second later, the male stood in front of his locker. Having an absolutely shallow conversation with Haru and watching the fellow tennis player rewrap some tape of the handle of his racket before they parted ways. Sighing as he watched a saddened Dan Oh walk past, he decided to avoid conflict all together and just skip class. If an extra was the only person who could walk freely on stage, maybe he ought to find his own, aware, extra. And change Dan Oh's fate, as she so desperately wanted.

Maybe he could even enroll Do Hwa in that quest. He had changed his fate prior, after all.

The male schooled his features into his trademark scowl, a hand in the pocket of his pants as he nonchalantly marched through corridors. As he walked, Kyung realized that he'd never seen the inside of his best friend's class before. He didn't expect it to be fundamentally different, but knowing he'd never bothered to set a foot in there when Do Hwa often stopped by theirs, bothered him... Until he remembered that both of the main characters were in his, class.

A sigh accompanied a frustrated eye roll as he neared the door, his ire with the lazy writing ever growing. Baek Kyung paused at the threshold, noticing that his friend was laughing. Sitting backwards on a chair, legs on either side and using the back of it as an armrest, the male was looking at a girl.

_One that seemed familiar._

Kyung narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to the side as he watched her. The extra from the day prior. She looked a little different, with her round cheeks and nose scrunched up as she laughed. Blinking when her gaze and Do Hwa's trailed to him, Kyung realized belatedly that a group of girls had gathered in his vicinity. His eyes trailed back towards Do Hwa and the girl, seeing her roll her eyes as his friend stood to approach him. "Some air, give him so air." The fellow A3 member declared as he made his way through his classmates to approach his best friend. "Come on guys, let him in." He spoke, as he tugged on his friend's arm, leading Kyung inside the room.

Everybody paused as the school's speakers went off. "I have an announcement to make." Do Hwa's eyes shot to Baek Kyung as they recognized Oh Nam Ju's voice. "From now on, the only woman for me, is Yeo Ju Da."

Baek Kyung scoffed at the words, recognizing the ones he'd said himself at the party. "Wow, that writer is cheap." He declared before looking back at Do Hwa. The other male looked genuinely saddened by the news, but he promptly recovered, a small smile appearing on his lips.

" _Do Hwa-ya_ ," The possibly aware extra cut in. "walk with me. I wanna get a romance book from the library and you said you read all of them." She went on, wrapping an arm around the boy's and leading him out of the room before he could protest. While Baek Kyung picked up on the fact that she remembered a conversation that obviously happened in the shadows, his friend didn't seem to, allowing the female to direct him as he launched himself into a conversation about romance manhwas.

"This girl, definitely knows something." He mumbled, exiting the room as well.

Kyung allowed his steps to guide him, climbing up the stairs that led to the outside bridge. There, he found Dan Oh on her own. He sighed, closing the distance between him and the girl. "The story seems to go as planned." He spoke, leaning against the railing. "That writer, seriously. Reusing the exact same lines is so cheap." He chuckled, unamused. His eyes trailed to Dan Oh, who seemed visibly saddened by the words. "Whatever that extra did for you, I can too." Kyung declared, turning to face the horizon ahead of them. "I'll help you change the story."

Eun Dan Oh's eyes widened in surprise at the words, letting them sink in. "I..." She swallowed. "I don't want to mess things up anymore." She argued weakly.

"You don't want to loose someone else." He acknowledged, not quite saying Haru's name. Dancing around truths seemed easier sometimes. "Just," He sighed. "don't give up yet. Don't stop being a real person because you've accepted your character's fate. I need you alive."

Dan Oh blinked, lips faintly curling up. "You almost sounded sentimental."

"Am I not allowed to?" He asked.

"Just a little." She replied, scrunching up his nose as she held two fairly close fingers in front of her. "Otherwise it'd totally break out of character and we wouldn't want that, would we? I bet the writer would take it as a personal offense if you, of all people, became nice."

Kyung snorted, soft and low. "What if I'm only nice with you? Would it be okay then?"

"No." Dan Oh shook her head. "I'd rather you were just a little nicer with everybody." She spoke, bumping her arm with his. Baek Kyung allowed himself to smile, a lazy but genuine curl of his lips as he looked at the horizon. With Dan Oh by his side, things almost, seemed okay.

Arms wrapped around the two, as a giddy Do Hwa slithered between them. "So, what are we thinking about? Is it curse the writer o'clock yet?"

Dan Oh chuckled, bumping her hips with the male, while Baek Kyung sighed. "Are you done picking a graphic novel already?"

Do Hwa chuckled. "Did you really go out of your way not to say manhwa? We're manhwa characters, face it." He tightened his hold around Kyung's neck, bringing his friend closer. "And yes, I am done."

"I thought you'd read all the ones in the library, are you rereading some?" Dan Oh asked, turning to look at the two boys.

"No, it's for one of the girls in his class." Baek Kyung replied.

"Oh." Dan Oh rose both eyebrows in surprise, a small grin on her lips as she focused on Do Hwa.

" _Aniyo, aniyo_ , it's not like that!" The male replied, shaking his head. Untangling himself from Kyung to turn and fully look at Dan Oh, he shook his head. "She's just..." He narrowed his eyes. "Sometimes she feels... Real. Yeah, she's the only one who feels real."

"What's her name?" Kyung asked.

Do Hwa's brows knitted together as the question sunk in. "Huh..." He blinked, trying to picture a name tag and only coming up with blankness. "Well..." He cleared his throat, visibly embarrassed. "She's... Number 5. Yeah, Daseot, number five, I think."

"An extra?" Dan Oh asked, now curious as well.

"I'm not sure..." He tilted his head to the side. "Most likely since most of my classmates only exist to make the hallways feel less empty."

"Oh." Dan Oh nodded, her eyes shifting to Kyung. He seemed lost in thoughts, lips slightly parted and a small frown on his features. Something akin to an innocent youthfulness perceivable there. She shook her head. "Anyway," She nodded at the two males, taking a couple of steps back. "I'll see you guys later. Bye!" Shespun on her feet, trying not to seem like she was rushing away.

"What's up with her?" Do Hwa asked.

Baek Kyung sighed. "I don't know. Maybe she's sad still."

"About?" Do Hwa asked, brows furrowing.

"Haru. He can't remember the shadow. He's little more than a mere extra. And quite the ordinary one at that."

"You don't seem too sorry about it."

"Why?" Kyung asked, a smile appearing on his lips. "Should I be? He's loyal to me, caring, nice." He chuckled. "And he's not constantly with Eun Dan Oh." He shrugged. "I like simple things. They are simple so." He shrugged.

Lee Do Hwa sighed. "Can't you just pretend to feel a little? How would you, feel, if someone you loved and who loved you back just suddenly stopped? And you'd see them every day, with them right next to you while the two of you felt thousand of miles apart?" 

Baek Kyung sucked on his upper lip, eyes twitching as he chuckled through his nose. "Right. How would I know?" He asked, brows raising in questioning. "Do Hwa-ya, we are friends, best friends. That's why I'll let it slide this once. But you don't get to tell me to feel. Nor how, nor when, not ever. I know it's confusing still for all of us, but I am not my character. Yet, my life, feels very real. In and out of the shadows. Because contrary to the rest of you, my struggles go way beyond the part I have to play. In fact, that role is way easier to disappear behind than it is to deal my reality." He sighed, looking up for a second. "Just drop it. It's whatever." The male finished with, before walking past his friend.

Nearing the doors leading back into the school, Kyung's eyes saw a silhouette move. Stepping in, he found a female student, her back pressed against one of the doors, eyes squeezed shut. "It's not because you can't see me that I can't see you." He told the girl, making her reopen her eyes. Apologetically, she held out strawberry milk with a straw in it, her lips pressed together. "So you like me now, huh?" He asked, far too passive aggressive for the girl's liking. She withdrew her offer as he reached out, removing the straw in the milk, then the lid, looking him straight into the eyes as she made a display of downing it. "Wow, very mature." He commented.

The girl smiled, looking fairly pleased with herself overall. "Never claimed to be."

"Yeah, well, to me it seems to me that you are, a bit more than what you pretend." The A3 member spoke, tucking the both of his hands in his pocket.

" _Jinjiayo?_ " She inquired, tilting her head to the side, blinking doe eyed. "And pray tell, what, do I pretend to be?"

Kyung scoffed, something akin to amusement. "Well, I'd say as unaware, as the rest."

"Ohhh." She shrugged. "Maybe I just mind my own business. Nonchalance is a personality trait."

"Nonchalance is a noun." The male replied. "And you're aware, aren't you?"

"Of?" She asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Of yourself. Of who you truly are." He took a step towards her, towering the female with his height. "Sometimes you hear a weird noise. Sagak, sagak, sagak. You also forget what happened between different time periods, with different lengths of memory gaps. And you can't quite explain to yourself what you feel, what you say. You can't move freely, only look around and realize that you're the only one who feels like something is off."

The female hummed. "Well, not really. I exist all the times, I can move freely all the time and regarding my feelings, they're constantly there." She sighed. "But I do, hear the sound, like a page being turned. At irregular intervals during the day."

"Is that so?" Kyung asked, getting closer. "Then where do you go at night? Can you tell me? Do you have a family? A name?"

The girl swallowed, pressing herself further against the fixed door, in a shallow attempt to put some distance between her and the tall male. "Family?" She echoed, looking down as tears welled in her eyes. She had to have a family. "I must have a family. I must." Her brows creased. " _Ireum-i?_ " She swallowed. "It's..." She looked up again, eyes glossy. "My name, it's..." She couldn't remember ever hearing it called. Couldn't remember the first letter. She couldn't remember her name, at all. Tears rolling down, she pushed back the male and walked past him, rushing to disappear in the large hallways.

"Ya! Daseot!" He called after her, not bothering to run. "Have I crossed a line?" It's not like he'd forced her awareness was it? Surely she'd be better off like th— No. She wouldn't be. He wasn't. He had, made a mistake. Heaving a long, frustrated sigh, the male's eyes fell shut. It was probably wiser to let the girl, no, number five, digest the realization before he went to talk to her. Perhaps even, if the next scene happened soon enough, she'd forget all about it.

Wishful thinking. It never worked without the will to make things actually happen. Kyung, didn't really want Dausut to forget. Another bitter person sounded like a bliss. His own little extra to guide as he willed. A tool, to help him carve a new destiny for him and Dan Oh.

~^~

A discreet smile on his features and absolute shame tinting his cheeks, Baek Kyung listened to Eun Dan Oh's father small talk. The old man seemed to genuinely believe he'd make her daughter truly happy, and wanted nothing more for either of them. If only he knew... Or perhaps he did... It was so hard to tell these days. Compartmentalizing between stage and shadow was growing increasingly difficult as the distinction between character Kyung's feelings and his own grew more and more blurred.

Swallowing, the young male followed Dan Oh's father as he insisted on guiding Kyung to his daughter's room. His eyes shot to the ceiling, widening in embarrassment as Dan Oh's father asked her to make herself particularly pretty. Nodding gratefully as the older man took off after a knowing grin, Baek Kyung tentatively knocked on Dan Oh's door.

There was a certain satisfaction in watching the female's gaze entirely drink him in. Not so much out of a narcissistic desire, but more so, out of the surprise he read there. She didn't think he cared. He ought, to change that. This was the first step towards changing that. "Why are you so surprised?" He asked, still, like he had any reason to expect her to be used to his company, as if he willingly did anything for her. "I can come by if I want to." He went on, bulldozing through her silence and walking past her into the room. He peered, because he could, eyes settling on the stupid banner from the school's event. Except, it wasn't all that stupid. For either of them.

"You didn't throw it away." He remarked, retrieving said banner from the desk. His lips twitched, the hint of a smile passing as she rushed to him to retrieve it. Like it held meaning for her too.

"Give it back!" She spoke, jumping a little to reach it. He chuckled, letting go of the piece of fabric. "Don't laugh." She pouted. "It was embarrassing to carry it all around on Sports Day." She spoke, lowering her head and focusing her gaze back on the banner. She couldn't quite figure out why she'd kept it either.

Mercifully choosing not to press the matter further, but a certain satisfaction remaining in his gaze, Baek Kyung spoke: "Hurry up. Let's go to school together." Gaze wandering around still, he heard the familiar sound of her pill box popping open as his eyes fell on a picture of them. Of course, he had to be scowling. Reaching out, Kyung allowed for the memories to resurface, accepting them as his, accepting them as real to him. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo."

"Do you still, remember that?"

Spinning on his feet, the male's eyes traveled from the girl on the picture to the on standing in front of him. The surprise he found there was saddening, but it gave him hope too. He could let her know that he too, felt, remembered, lived those memories with her. Even if he was given little room to be more than broody, he did, feel more than frustration. "You're still the same, if that spell still works for you." Kyung watched, as realization passed on his fiancée's features, akin to a memory brought back to surface, her eyes lowering to the pill box with that spell written on it. For a second there, it seemed that she felt too, that sense that those memories, were real. And worth cherishing.

He sighed softly. "I'll wait outside. Just come when you're ready. We'll be where we need to be when time comes anyway." She nodded silently, her eyes trailing after him as he left, closing the door behind him.

Kyung held the door handle for a while, wondering if he'd ever truly earned to behave like he owned what he had. He'd never had to be deserving of her heart, had he? She'd merely given it away so long ago that he'd accepted it as the only constant in his life. But she had no reason to love him. And he had all the reasons to love her. He couldn't accept that it was too late to become deserving. If anything, just to alleviate some of her pain from loosing someone who'd always seen how extraordinary she was.

The door was tugged open, dragging himforward as he stumbled to catch himself. Instinctively, Dan Oh steadied him. Their gazes met, barely inches from one another. They both swallowed, uncertain. Then hastily turned away from one another, putting some distance between them. "Let's go." She said, walking past him and rushing to disappear from sight. He followed numbly, hands tugged in his pockets. He heard her yell goodbye at her father and followed after her, tentatively letting out an 'abeonim', expressing for the very first time an envy to be part of the family.

Dan Oh still a couple of feet ahead, he walked straight past her, choosing not to deal with the consequences of his words. She caught up with him, very determinedly at that. He imperceptibly slowed down his pace after they fell into steps, silence not feeling as heavy as he would have expected.

"Oh! Look!" She grabbed his arm to halt him, gesturing at empty swings with her chin. "They're literally calling us, come on." She spoke, dragging him towards the two.

Kyung opened his mouth, considering complaining for a second before closing it. He knew why she dreaded to go to school. He knew the feeling too, for entirely different reasons. He could use the break too. He could go along willingly, for once.

"Is it that though, to take your medicine?" He asked, standing in the sand as he watched her swing besides him.

"Ya, try taking them every single day. Gosh." Her voice was low, exhausted but accepting. He realized it was probably the first time he asked. He hated that he hadn't asked before.

But he'd known once. He'd known how difficult it was for her. That was why... "You always gave a hard time to the nurses because you never wanted to take your medicine as a kid."

"Your remember that?" Those words again, with that same genuinely shocked expression. Like he wouldn't have remembered. Like he hadn't cared. He was oscillating between anger at himself, for leading her to believe he hadn't cared, and at her, for believing he hadn't cared at all.

"I'm the one who cast that spell when you took your medicine." Of course, he did remember. "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo." She halted her swinging to focus on him, entirely. Like she was seeing somewhere there, another memories she could feel in her heart, another piece of their life that felt real. "When the fairy gave the carriage and dress to Cinderella, you said you just wanted a healthy heart above all things..." He watched the sad smile that appeared on her lips, the glint in her eyes. He poorly dealt with others' sadness. So he deflected. "My gosh, you were really scary."

Dan Oh chuckled. "I can't believe you remember that."

Kyung allowed himself a faint smile. "You said you might become healthy, if I, cast that spell." His eyes twitched, loosing the spark of mirth for sober hope and heartbreak at the same time.

"It's all just a set-up anyway. A set-up." She replied, bitterly.

The male looked down at his hands. They seemed real. They felt real. He was, real. "I remember everything." He spoke, awaiting for the girl to meet his gaze with those wide, surprised eyes of hers. This time he was prepared for the expression he saw there, expected it. "I remember you, within the stage and out of it, I remember you."

"I'm relieved to hear that." She replied. "You're the only one who remembers me, out of the story. And..."

"Haru?"

"Thank you, Kyung. If it weren't for you, things would have been truly painful." She inhaled. "I'm going to try to accept this world as it is. Haru too, I'll try to accept him as he is now. And forget how I tried to change the story." She smiled, with no light in her gaze. "I'll try to forget how rude you were in the past." She stood up. "Let's go. We might be late."

Kyung remained seated, unable to move for a while, as he realized why she'd meddled with her own fate. Why she needed to be more than just a character. Watching her say that she would stop trying to be a real person was heartbreaking.

"You're not coming?" Dan Oh asked. Kyung blinked and stood, following after her. The rest of the way to school, silence felt a lot heavier. But they kept going, side by side.

A glare was enough to stop all sort of cooing or commenting, and enough to repel bothersome groupies too. Gently reaching out for Dan Oh's wrist as they reached the class' door, Kyung dared speaking again. "I'll pick you up again tomorrow." He declared, hoping to make that look of surprise she constantly shot his way disappear soon.

"No!" Haru spoke, grabbing Kyung's wrist and surprising them both. "You can't. We have a tennis practice tomorrow."

Freeing himself from the other male's hold with little tact, Kyung glared at the former extra. "Can't you just practice with another guy?" He was met with no reply, Haru zeroing on Dan Oh only for a couple of seconds before he rushed into the classroom. The A3 member wondered for a second if Haru remembered, but the conflict he could recognize in the other male's gaze, seemed to betray a confusion, a sensation that something was missing more than any certitude. That's where the anguish came from. Stepping aside as Yeo Ju Da entered the classroom, he stood for a while, watching Dan Oh and Haru with a morbid curiosity before going to his own seat, no longer towering above them.

Class passed in an inconsequential blur.

Kyung stood, marching to Haru with the intent to preserve a sense of normalcy in the character. "Did you fall asleep?" He asked, being met with a seemingly mentally absent Haru.

The other male blinked, looking up. "What?"

"Get up. Let's go and practice."

"Okay." Haru replied, watching as Kyung turned away from him. His eyes fell on the male's backpack. Or more so, on the orange flower trinket that contrasted so brightly with the black. He reached out for it. "What's this?" He asked.

Kyung instinctively pushed the hand away, distrust installing itself in his gaze again. "Dan Oh gave it to me." He chose to reply, testing the waters.

"Dan Oh?" Kyung's eyes narrowed at Haru's uncertain tone. "What's this flower called?" Haru stood. "No, forget it." He spoke, shoulder bumping with Kyung as he walked past him.

The A3 member grabbed his classmate's wrist, stopping him. "Why do you want to know? What it's called, why, do you want to know?"

Haru swallowed, that anguished gaze returning. He chose to tell the truth. "It looked like the one I saw in my dream."

"In your dream?" Kyung asked, brows creasing.

"It's nothing." Haru replied, clasping a hand on Kyung's shoulder. "Forget about it." There was something incredibly frustrating about this Haru. Infuriating even, in the way he was always just a little bit more than he was expected to be.

But before he could do anything about it, he was transported into the A3's hq at school, and loosing at a video game. Of course, the writer hadn't found a better way to express Kyung's frustration than to childishly make him throw the remote to the ground after he lost. "Hey, don't blame the game for your lack of skills." Do Hwa chirped, smiling contently as he laid back into an armchair. For no reason, Kyung pulled out his phone, staring at a black screen as Nam Ju entered.

"Lee Do Hwa." The A3 leader spoke, focusing on their former member.

"Am I not allowed to come here on top of the rooftop? Fine, I'm leaving." Do Hwa asked, already standing up to leave. Kyung tried to move, to say something, but he was left staring at his phone, as the two settled their dispute. As if he wasn't fully part of the friendship. As if he didn't care enough about the both of them to say something about it. As if he was little more than an... extra. An extra that desperately wanted to matter.

The sound of a page turning stopped Do Hwa as he made his way to the door, making him turn back to return to the room. Finally, Kyung's gaze shifted. He couldn't move still, but he could look. "Your absence is quite missed." Nam Ju declared. He did like to declare things. "Someone said that A3 shines the brightest when it's the three of us."

"Who said that?" Do Hwa asked.

"My woman." Nam Ju replied, making Kyung internally cringe. But of course, his expression reflected little more than the hint of a relieved smile at his friends' attempt at reconciliation.

"I get it, for now."

"For now?" Nam Ju rose an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Both Ju Da and A3 are very dear to me. Let's compete in good faith." Do Hwa spoke, holding out a hand for the A3 leader to shake. Of course he took it, chuckling smugly.

Kyung's body finally moved, joining the two. " _Kure._ " He spoke, putting his hand atop of their handshake. "A3 shouldn't disband that easily."

"A3 shines the brightest when it's the three of us." Nam Ju was repeating the exact same thing.

The three silently stood for a couple of seconds before the scene ended. "Was that truly necessary?" Kyung asked, removing his hand.

Do Hwa kept holding on though. "I can feel your sincerity." He declared, his smile more genuine. "Sometimes when you repeat yourself, you sound like a broken stereo, but this time, I can feel your sincerity."

"Are you that touched that I let you back into A3?"

Do Hwa pulled the male into a hug. Kyung bit his inside cheeks to make his smile disappear as he listened to the violonist's cheesy declaration. "I had forgotten. You're a very precious friend of mine, whether you're self-aware or not. Kyung, you too!" Do Hwa held out his arms, gesturing for the third A3 member to join the embrace. "We share many childhood memories." So Do Hwa felt it too, that sensation that those memories were real regardless of whether or not they were written?

"I get it." Nam Ju interrupted, removing Do Hwa's hand. "But don't get all touchy."

Of course, he didn't listen, instead putting his hands on Nam Ju's arms and holding him in place as he spoke: "Take care of Ju Da. She's a nice girl. My feelings for her won't subside in a day. But I truly hope you two will be happy."

Baek Kyung's brows creased at the admission, Do Hwa's selflessness sounding too genuine too doubt, but too odd to explain. Was that the fundamental difference between them? Was that exactly why Do Hwa was a good person and he, well, wasn't?

Sighing, the tennis player left the room.He'd always known he was selfish. And had had no qualms about it so far. But recently, he'd been wondering if sticking to the character truly was the best way to live. Sure, he wanted for stage Dan Oh to be constantly real, so he wouldn't feel so alone. But he also knew, that he fell for shadow Dan Oh just as much. Because she was bold, because she was curious, because she just was more. Several would probably think that it was because she grew away from him, but what was once suffocating, because that poor child was being used and it wasn't fair to do that so he preferred to be rude, had turned into intriguing now that she could choose if she wanted to be with him. And now that he could ask himself if he was with her for the right reason. He'd never hated her, he hated the looming heartbreak of her loss. But he was loosing her already, even though she sometimes was less than ten feet away.

Pushing the door of the school's library, Kyung wandered with no specific place to go, considering peering around for the sake of it. He stilled when he heard giggles, girls moving a ladder around as they planned to make a bunch of books fall onJu Da. His eyes met with another passerby, who grind her teeth. "Ya Da—" the words fell in his throat, as he grew literally stuck to watch the scene unfurl. Sae Mi pushing the door of the library open for Ju Da to enter.

But whilst he couldn't move, Do Hwa's classmate effortlessly managed. "Ju Da-ya." She stood in their way. "Do Hwa wants to see you, right now." She spoke. "There seems to be an issue with his violin. He will only speak to you."

"But Nam Ju's book..."

"I'll get it myself and apologize on your behalf. But hurry and go see Do Hwa." The girl huffed when the heroine bit her bottom lip, seemingly doubtful still. "Take your time and think carefully, what matters more? A book? Or Do Hwa's most prized possession?"

Ju Da nodded after a couple of seconds. "Thank you." She spoke before spinning on her heels and leaving.

But because the plot had to be carried out, Do Hwa's classmate found herself moving towards the shelves even though she didn't even know which book she was supposed to retrieve. The scene ended right as she entered the specific row. Kyung sprung into action, rushing there, unsure as to why, but shielding the female with his body as a bunch of books fell atop of them. Everything feeling just a little too familiar. The two swallowed as their gazes met. And for a second there, he saw Dan Oh, with longer hair and a more open face, trusting, hopeful.

"Ya! Won't you let me go?" Daseot interrupted, dragging him out of the peculiar daydream. It felt too much like a memory to be just a hallucination.

Kyung removed his hands, allowing the female to stand again and did the same. "Aren't you gonna say thank you?"

"I was. But you asked for it, so I feel a lot less inclined to." She quipped back, making the male chuckle.

"Unbelievable, you're really irritating do you know that? I can't believe I was considering apologizing to you. In fact, you should be grateful to me."

The female rose both eyebrows. "Grateful?" She scoffed. "You're right, Kyung. Thank you. Thanks for making me feel more alone than ever. For leaving me to contemplate the futility of my own existence every single day. For making me self-aware so that I could be constantly reminded that I don't matter and never will. Thank you so very much."

The male's lips parted, no sound coming out as it dawned on him that he'd make everything so much worse for her out of selfish needs. "I'm sorry." He finally said. "It'd be a lie to tell you that it's better to know when I'm...." His eyes shot to the ceiling. "Nevermind. What matters is that I'm sorry."

"Why did you do it?" Daseot asked, sounding genuinely interested in his reply.

Kyung shrugged. "I keep telling myself that it was to help Dan Oh change her set up, to have my own extra to call for help." He heaved a long sigh. "But the truth is, I think I just wanted someone to be as miserable as I was, as lonely, as confused. So that when I couldn't deal with it, I would at least, have someone to complain to."

"Don't you already have Dan Oh? And Do Hwa?"

The tennis player chuckled, low and lacking any trace of humor, barely more than a loud breath through his nose. "They don't understand. They have people they can connect with. Friends. Real, friends. They're good people. I don't know how to be in their company yet. It seems so easy for them to make the distinction between stage and shadow, they've accepted that duality."

"But you don't want to." She guessed. "Because it's pretty shitty to be aware. Because when you start to question things about who you are, who you want to become the only answer that comes is: what's the point if it doesn't ultimately matter? And it's absolutely scary to feel entirely purposeless."

"I... Yeah." Kyung inhaled deeply. "But you gotta add, am I truly no more than my set-up? Do I truly have to accept it all? For whose sake?"

The female nodded. "I get that." She replied honestly. "I guess you have it worse, because every time a scene starts you loose your free will. I don't matter enough for that, in some way, it's a relief. I can, always, be myself."

"So you understand?" Kyung asked, hopeful.

"I do. But I don't forgive." She replied. "You intended to use me." The female crossed her arms over her chest. "But I can't fix your fate or your friend's fate. Nor can I make you feel any less lonely by sharing your woes. You're surrounded by people eager to spend time in your company, constantly. And yet, you seek refuge in a lonesomeness you don't even enjoy. This isn't about other people feeling too real or not real enough. It's about you, not knowing if you're ready to be real."

Kyung chuckled. "Real? What does it mean? Was every single look of disappointment from my father entirely fake? Was the pain I felt, every single time, fake? Was every single hit I had to endure fake? Was the heartbreak caused by the loss of my mother fake?" He shook his head. "I don't think so. Everything felt very, very real to me. Stage. And shadow."

Visibly taken aback, number five's eyes widened, her lips parting as she took a small step back, unable to hold the gaze of the male towering above her. "I..."

"You didn't knew? I know. I have a shitty set up. That makes everyone believe I'm an asshole and gets me beaten up at home. I really have that sob story going on for me, huh? It's a shame nobody knows about it." He chuckled, sounding bitter. "But you know what's the worse of it? My father, mostly beats me in the shadows. And for years, I had to endure silently because I thought this was the only way to remain with the little family I had left. Because I thought, I genuinely deserved it for acting out. But all I ever did, was to refuse a narrative. Just to find out that my refusal was part of a bigger one. So yes, I am selfish. Because I can be. Because it's all I have been expected to be. Because when I can, actually, do things for me, I take every opportunity to. Judge me all you want. Pity me, if it makes you feel better about yourself. But don't tell me I'm not ready to be real. I am, real. Everything, feels painfully real."

Daseot hastily wiped away the tear that had rolled down her right cheek, surprised to find wetness at the tip of her fingers. From what she could remember, this was the first time she ever cried. Ever felt, so vividly. "I'll help." She said. "However I can. I'll help you."

"Pity really goes a long way, huh?" The male asked, seemingly deflating.

"No." She gently shook her head. "I just can't bear to hear you complain any further. Your tone's irritating and your voice incredibly grating." Kyung snorted at that. And the hint of a smile appeared on the girl's lips. "You know I can't do much though. And realistically, aside from sticking by your side 24/7, I don't see how I could prevent anything from happening."

"Phone." Kyung spoke impatiently as he held out a hand, making a grabby motion with it.

Number five rolled her eyes. "I don't have one."

"Then we're gonna get you a phone. Let's go." He spoke, spinning on his heels.

"Hey no! What about school? I can't just ski—" She sighed. "Actually yeah, I can." Caving in, she followed after the male.

Struggling to hold in her passive aggressive grunts as the two walked through the corridors, Daseot was glaring at the back of Kyung's head. "What?" The A3 member asked, peering over his shoulder. "I can feel you trying to burn a hole in the back of my head, what's up with that?"

"You didn't say thanks." She pointed out, pouting. "And," She heaved a sigh.

"And what?" He asked.

"I don't get it." The female replied. "Why is it so important to you to change Eun Dan Oh's set-up? Like you said, you're a selfish dude. And apparently you get the girl in the end no matter how garbage your behavior with her was. Why do you want to give her the freedom to choose her fate when she could, not choose you."

Kyung sighed. "Well, I wish I knew." He replied earnestly. "Perhaps I just want her to actually choose me for me."

"But you don't even know who you are." Number five pointed out, making the male snarl at her. She rose a satisfied eyebrow, making him huff before he spun on his feet. This time around, he made sure to walk unpleasantly fast for the shorter female. Rolling her eyes, Daseot didn't even bother trying to keep up with him, considering it fine as long as he was within her sight.

And that is how they made their way to the nearest electronic store, conveniently walking past the same pawn shop at least three times. "God, how did I not notice all of this before?" Daseot asked, watching a floating trashcan. She almost bumped onto the male who'd turned to look at whatever had caught her attention. "Aish." She took a step back, visibly irritated.

"What?" Kyung asked, genuinely wondering what he'd done this time around.

Daseot sighed. "Whatever. After you." She spoke, gesturing at the glass sliding door of the store.He nodded in acknowledgement before entering the store, heading straight to the rows that displayed mobile phones. Silently, the female followed after him, peering at the different brands displayed with no real conviction. Most phones looked about the same for her, and she wasn't sure it'd even still be there in the next scene.

"Aren't you going to pick one?" Baek Kyung asked, watching her read the characteristics of each phone. "Most phones can do the same things nowadays, just..." He sighed. "take one. Whatever."

"Pixels." The female spoke. "It's a matter of pixels. I wanna take great pictures." She peered up, grinning at the male. He blinked a few times, then silently nodded, letting her go back to her reading. She seemed incredibly thorough in her reading, so much that it caught the attention of the current worker.

The man sounded about a couple of years older than them, his hair was long, tucked behind his ear with a pencil right above his right ear. He had a careful smile as he approached the two. "Can I help?" He asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

Daseot looked at him. Visibly taken aback, she sucked in a short breath and blinked doe eyed. " _Ibbune..._ " She whispered. Then clamped a hand over her mouth, shame tinting her cheeks.

The male chuckled. "The phones? Yeah. Some are really pretty." He replied, offering the girl a kind smile. "And if you want to take really pretty pictures too, then I'd advise you to go for a Huawei. The P40 pro is a best seller. But if you prefer iPhone then the eleven is doing a fine job."

The female hummed softly. "No. I was thinking Oppo. Reno 2. I'm into underdogs."

The shop seller chuckled. "It's the neon light on the back, right?"

Daseot scrunched up her nose, letting out a short laugh. "You got me there. But in terms of quality of image, it's delivering."

"It is, for its price." The older male replied. "Now, well, don't expect too much about the night mode but flattering portraits are definitely in. So you've made your choice?"

"Yes." She replied. "He's paying." Was added, as she gestured to Baek Kyung with her thumb.

"Me?" The fellow high schooler's brows creased. "Why would I?"

Daseot turned to him, lips curled up in a satisfied smirk. "Well, I don't have money. Or parents. Or an address. I don't even have a name." She shrugged. "You're the one who wanted me, to have a phone."

Kyung let out a huff of acceptance. "True." He turned to the vendor. "You heard her, I'm paying."

The girl patted his shoulder. "Good boy." The male scoffed but remained silent. After a nod, the worker disappeared into a backroom to retrieve an actual phone.

Shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants, Kyung peered around. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother flirting with someone who will forget you as soon as the next scene starts." He spoke, his gaze away from the female.

Daseot chuckled. "Who was flirting? He was nice. So I was nice. Period." Her smile faded. "It's not like either of us matter, anyway."

"You do." Kyung replied. "If there's one thing I've understood by now," He grew closer, ensuring that he was looking into her eyes before speaking again. "it's that people like you, aware extras, aren't, ordinary." He finished. The female's lips parted slightly, brows faintly creasing and eyes wide. For a second, they held each other's gaze before she looked down, lips discreetly curling up.

"There it is!" The shopkeeper declared, returning with a box. The two high schoolers approached the counter, keeping some distance between them. "Oppo Reno 2. Hope you won't regret not taking a huawei." He spoke, sliding the box across the counter and towards them.

Daseot chuckled. "Do you get a bigger commission if I buy one?"

"Huh, actually I'm buying." Baek Kyung cut in, filling the forms for the attribution of a phone.

The worker shot the girl a telling look, eliciting another chuckle from her. "I just so happen to have a Huawei myself. Don't regret it one bit." He spoke, fishing out his own phone to show.

"Well, maybe I'll come back and buy one." She replied.

"No, you're not." Kyung spoke, putting the pen used to fill the form down. "I'm not buying you another phone."

Number Five pouted. "Party pooper."

The shopkeeper chuckled. "Your boyfriend's being wise. Nobody really needs to change phone too often."

Daseoy and Kyung shared a look. "Not my boyfriend." The girl clarified. "He's got a fiancée." She wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh." He nodded. "Well, I thought..." He shook his head. "nothing. Good for you." He told Baek Kyung, looking a little uncertain. "I mean, some know early who they'll marry."

"God, I want to finish college before I even consider getting married. Maybe a couple masters too." The female commented.

"You wanna be the Bruce Banner of master degrees? Get seven of 'em?" The older male asked. "Personally I've started college last year and don't see myself spending more than six years there. This part-time job is literally the only thing keeping me sane."

Daseot chuckled. "Fair enough. What are you studying?"

"We have to go." Baek Kyung cut in, handing the female her newly acquired phone. "I'm gonna be late to art class if we wait too much."

Do Hwa's classmate furrowed her brows. "Weren't you the one in favor of skipping school?"

"I was. I changed my mind." Kyung replied.

"Okay..." The female's brows creased as she watched the male head to the door. "I'll try to stop by again, albasang annyeong!" She told the part-time worker before following an apparently in a rush Kyung out. Huffing, she realized that he'd decided to walk ahead. " _Aish, geu sarami, jinjia._ " She'd thought they were getting somewhere minutes ago still, and now he was putting physical as much as mental distance between them again. Not bothering to catch up, the female tried instead to repeatedly stomp on his shadow, taking a childish pleasure when her feet would land on his head.

Baek Kyung picked up on it after a little while, stealing glances over his shoulder." _Hajima_." He spoke, urging her to stop.

"Why are you in such a bad mood all of sudden?" Daseot shot back. "I thought we were becoming friends."

Kyung sighed, stopping in his tracks. "I don't really know. I thought we were becoming friends too. But clearly you prefer the part-timer."

She chuckled, catching up with him. But the witty retort died in her throat as she saw the expression on his features. It wasn't some silly jealousy. Probably had little to do with her. "Oh." She let out softly. "Well, I think there are people it's easy to bond with and others, with whom it requires some effort." She bumped his arm with her elbow. "But if people bother to make that effort, then you're not any less friend than someone it was easy to bond with. On the contrary, it should mean more. It means you're worth the effort."

"Am I?" Baek Kyung asked, doubt on display on his features.

The female swallowed. "I think so. I can't quite be sure. But I don't think there's a hierarchy between friends. You vibe with them at a time or another. You're not forgotten because somebody else is included. And they're not preferred to you either. Perhaps it's even an occasion to bond with new people. Look at Do Hwa and I, we do spend a lot of time together. But he doesn't know that I'm aware, and I pretend not to notice when he sneaks away from our class to hang with Dan Oh or Ju Da. That doesn't mean we aren't friends. Just that we're the sort of simple friends, who share certain things but not all. And you and I, we met because I hang out with Do Hwa."

"Well, actually we—"

"Oh shut up, please." Daseot cut. "I'm trying to be nice with you prick and demonstrate a point. We found each other again, because, I hang out with Do Hwa." She corrected, her own smile fading at the words. After a short inhale she went on : "Now you can go back to school, I'll roam around and take some pictures with my new phone, I think."

"Ah." Kyung nodded. "Okay." He nodded again,before ruffling his hair.

"You're not leaving..." The girl pointed out after a couple of seconds.

"Right." Kyung nodded again. "And I can't just, huh, stay, with you? Maybe?"

"If you know how to be silent, then sure." Daseot replied. Kyung was about to say something when his phone pinged. Once. Twice. It was Nam Ju, asking where he was and saying he had something really important to tell him about. "This guy really loves to announce thing." The female pointed out and chuckled.

"Right." Kyung pocketed his phone. "I probably should go then." He gave another nod.

"Yeah, ka." She spoke, using the name tone he had when they first met. "And text me if you need me somewhere or whatever. You're literally the only person who has my number so I'll know it's you." She chuckled as he nodded again before taking off. "Not even gonna look back..." She mumbled, making a small smile appear on the male's lips.

He did not turn back.

~^~

Night had fallen unnoticed, a lazy day with few pages to interpret for side characters. So Kyungdecided to do some things regarding his situation with Dan Oh. That is how he ended up sitting in a park, a gift bag right next to him. Obviously, he was waiting for his fiancée. She arrived about a minute later, a sad expression on her features as she sat next to him. "Why did you call me?" She asked, sounding utterly defeated.

"Take this." Kyung spoke, gesturing at the gifts between them with his chin.

"What is this?" She asked, her eyes betraying genuine surprise as they shifted from Kyung to the first gift.

"Well, just this and that." The male replied nonchalantly. Dan Oh opened the gift box, revealing a pair of expensive heels and matching nacre pearls earrings. "I thought you'd like it." The male spoke, after peering inside the box as well. He retrieved some sweets at the bottom of the gift bag, handing them to the female.

"Oh. Aren't these..."

"I was reminded of them while talking to you this morning." Kyung spoke. "I gave you that every time you took you pills."

Dan Oh chuckled softly. "It's truly been a long time." She spoke, a fond smile remaining on her features.

"You said eating them made you happy."

"You're right, I did."

"And, there's one more." Kyung announced.

"One more?" Dan Oh inquired.

Kyung's head turned to the opposite side. "There it is." He clarified, looking at Haru as he approached the two with a flower bouquet. The fellow high schooler handed said bouquet to Kyung, sharing a long look with a taken aback Dan Oh. "Well done." Kyung told Haru as he retrieved the bouquet.

"Why is Haru here?" Dan Oh asked, focusing her hardening gaze on Kyung.

"I told him to get me flowers." The A3 member replied, contemplating the expression in the female's features. "Haru and I, it seems we are pretty close." He finished, despite the sense of betrayal he could read in Dan Oh's eyes. She needed to get used to the idea that Haru would always be there, while never truly being there.

"Thanks." Kyung spoke, cutting the heavy silence. "Do you have something to say?" He asked Haru, giving the male another chance to simply be again, more than a character whose fate was decided. Nothing came.

Haru swallowed. "No." He replied.

"Then why do you look like you do?" Baek Kyung inquired.

Dan Oh stood, putting the box down. "You, leave." She told Haru, sounding biting and bitter.

"Don't bother," Kyung stood. "he won't remember anyway. Ahhh, so this must have been how you and Haru felt towards me." And so, Baek Kyung had sought out confrontation again. He could see the shame in Dan Oh's eyes when she looked into his eyes again, the pain too. It didn't feel as good as he thought it would. "The two of you were aware of yourselves," he turned to Haru. "while I wasn't."

"He's not Haru." Dan Oh declared before leaving.

"Right." Kyung dropped the flower bouquet atop of the forgotten gifts. "Not anymore." He told the male. " _Ka_."

~^~

Baek Kyung went to school the following day, but did not set a foot in class. Instead, he spent most of his time in the library, desperately trying to find a specific book: Trumpet Creeper. But before he could give it more than a skim through, Jimichae Yeojong was ripping it out of his hands, telling him it was nothing and rushing away. The high schooler was left utterly confused, being drawn out of his contemplation when his phone biped.

**_\--- "Kyung-ah."_ **

Kyung pulled a face upon seeing who the message was from.

**\--- « No. »** He replied.

Came the next mesage.

**\--- « I'd rather not. »** He shot back.

_**\--- "Ahjussi!!! It doesn't matter right now! I think Do Hwa might have found out I'm aware. Mianhe 🥺"** _

Kyung blinked a few times before shaking his head.

**\--- « It's fine as long as it's just Do Hwa. If you tell him to keep it on the DL, he will. If he's not sure, don't clarify anything yet. »** The male wrote back.

_**\--- "Alright, bye ahjussi!"** _

Kyung scoffed at the title that was apparently going to stick and decided to simply go to Do Hwa's classroom, hoping to persuade his best friend to skip the rest of the school day with him.

Bumping into a shorter male as they rushed into the library, Baek Kyung huffed. He glared at the younger teen for a second, sighing at the panic that wrote itself in the kid's features and decided to pick up the book that had fallen down. Without a word, he handed it back to its owner and walked past him.

Hands pocketed in his pants, the A3 member walked through the corridors, taking the time to actually look at people. A couple of faces, familiar but entirely foreign too. Nothing remarkable about them, they existed to fill space. He too, in a way. Unapologetic, the male pushed the door of Do Hwa's class mid lesson, bringing all eyes on him. "Wanna skip?" He asked, looking straight at Do Hwa. The student's eyes widened at that.

"Baek Kyung!" The teacher called. "You can't possibly interrupt a class like that!"

"You won't remember anyway." Kyung shot back, entirely unbothered. "Do Hwa-ya? Come on, you're a good student. No matter what happens, it's in your set up. And you don't even like maths."

Do Hwa blinked, doe eyed still at the entirely unexpected interruption. "I...."

"You're afraid to take a risk? To have fun? Why? Because you're the good one? Is that all you want to be?"

Do Hwa rose to his feet at the words.

"Being good isn't a bad thing." Daseot replied, before he could say anything.

"Yeah! Right!" Do Hwa agreed. "But also, I'm more than that!" He started to pack up his stuffs, furiously shoving them in his backpack. Kyung's lips faintly curled up.

Daseot sighed. "You can't corrupt him." She pointed out, ignoring the curious gazes of their classmates at the little display and focusing instead on jotting down noted. "And even if he were becoming more like you, it wouldn't make him understand how you feel. Nor would it make you feel any less isolated." She went on, without looking up for a second.

Do Hwa paused at the words, eyes going from the girl to Baek Kyung. It was difficult to be certain she was aware, because number five had always been like that, loud, blunt, nonchalant. But how could she know Kyung? She wouldn't really see him if she remembered no more than the encounters she was authorized. Because they never met. "You..." he whispered, looking at the girl.

"Come on, let's go." Kyung spoke before turning away, expecting his friend to follow. Do Hwa shot Dausut a final glance before following his friend out.

The two male fell into steps, Do Hwa easily keeping up with his friend's purposefully long strides. "Are you okay?" He chose to ask. Kyung hummed in agreement for sole reply. "Really?"

Baek Kyung paused. "Why?" He asked, eyes shifting to his friend beside him. "Why would I not, be okay?"

"Well, just..." Do Hwa shrugged. "You know, what she said, Dausut. About you, feeling isolated."

Kyung chuckled. "Why? Do you feel remorse?" He inquired, watching his friend's features shift with uncomfortableness. "Don't." He sighed. "It's true, I, well, I still am, lonely. But it's not about others so much as it is about me. Like she said, you can't do anything about it."

Lee Do Hwa slowly nodded, his brows creasing. "But... She can?"

"Whom?"

Do Hwa shrugged. "Who do you think I'm talking about."

"Daseot?" Kyung scoffed. "I only met her once. Yeah, I bought her a phone but it's not a big deal. Dan Oh, she's..." The male eyebrows knitted together. "She's the only one that makes me feel like I'm not all on my own. Like it's okay to be myself. Like I don't have to try to be more."

"And is it enough?" Do Hwa inquired. "Is she, truly, all you need to be happy? Don't you want more?"

"More?" Baek Kyung let out a soft huff. "What's more? Dan Oh, is freedom and safety for my future. Dan Oh, is the only person who knows me, really, on and off of the stage and still, doesn't hate me for it. Dan Oh, is, my fate. And I want to believe that she is, my happiness too. There has to be some, somewhere, for me."

Several emotions passed in Do Hwa's gaze as his friend spoke so honestly. Instinctively, and impulsively perhaps, he launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around his friend. "babo ya." He mumbled. "You big, big idiot." He squeezed tighter as his friends tried to fight back. "It's okay to want to be happy. And I'm sorry you don't really know what it means for you yet." He sighed. "But you can't expect a single person to be the answer to all your questions." Kyung stopped trying to pry the other away at the words, indulging Do Hwa as much as himself with the embrace. He couldn't quite hug back, but he closed his eyes inhaling deeply.

~^~

Baek Kyung pushed the door of his house's dining hall, peering around like he'd never been there and looking entirely too bothered by the idea of the arranged dinner between his family and Eun Dan Oh. "You're late." His father spoke.

"Ah. Well, I was going to be summoned anyway." Kyung replied. "Frankly it was a hassle to come here on my own volition."

"You're late, you ought to apologize." His stepmother spoke, a saccharine smile on her features. "Don't make a joke as soon as you join us." She went on, focusing her gaze on Dan Oh's father.

"Joke?" Baek Kyung asked, brows creasing. "I'm sure Eun Dan Oh understands it's not a joke."

"Sit down." His father spoke, through gritted teeth.

Kyung did as instructed. "Ah, well I'm sorry. You won't remember even if I apologize but..."

"Have you gone mad?" His father inquired, leaning towards Kyung as he sat next to him.

"Ah, I'm so sick of this, _jinjia_. Is that all you want to say in the shadow?" Before his father could say anything, a scene started.

The six persons gathered around the table clinked glasses, bright expressions on their features. A conversation about Nam Ju's family was struck between the two fathers. And Kyung snapped his fingers, gesturing for a nearby servant to bring him something he'd apparently prepared for Dan Oh. The female gasped, standing up as a flower bouquet was handed to her. "Wow." She spoke, with genuine awe in her tone. She smelled the flowers, her whole face lighting up. "I love you the most in the world, Baek Kyung!"

"I'm right here." Dan Oh's father fondly argued.

"Right. Your father might be a little disappointed." Kyung's stepmother joked.

"That's not possible. Appa always say this to me: Your happiness, is my happiness." She replied, grinning brightly.

"I can't ever win, can I?" Her father asked, a genuine gentleness in his gaze.

"I must address you as my in-law soon." Baek Kyung's father happily spoke.

"Thanks to you, I have a reliable son." Dan Oh's father replied.

"Baek Kyung, thank you so much. I didn't prepare a gift for you."

"You gave it to me a long time ago." Kyung replied, opening his hand to reveal the trinket she'd offered him during the school trip at the beach. It had just magically appeared there.

Dan Oh gasped. "I thought you threw it out." She reached out for it, disbelieving still. "You still had this?"

"Of course." Kyung replied, a fond smile on his lips.

"My ten years one-sided crush is finally over!" Dan Oh spoke happily, bringing the trinket to her chest and holding it tight in her hands. "It is true that little strokes fell great oaks, right?" She reached out for Baek Kyung's hand, met with a gentle squeeze.

"It looks like you're about to walk down the aisle." Kyung's father eagerly pointed out.

"I could even marry him tomorrow." Dan Oh happily declared, making the whole table laugh.

She removed her hand as soon as the scene ended, returning to her seat. The two didn't share a single word, letting their fathers do the conversation and sharing loaded glances. Baek Kyung was eager to excuse himself as soon as dinner ended, letting the fathers talk business as he took time to reflect. Dan Oh was the one to exit the room next, meeting him in the house's hallway. "You look completely different from the stage." He spoke as she approached him.

"I'm just tired." Dan Oh replied, sounding drained.

"Do you know the trumpet creeper?" He asked, looking at the orange flower on the trinket in the palm of his hand still.

Dan Oh's eyes went to him, as if something she couldn't pinpoint had awakened in her. "Trumpet creeper?"

"This flower is called a trumpet creeper." Baek Kyung informed, showing the trinket to the girl.

"Ah that. You already know that the writer chose it, not me." Dan Oh replied.

"Then, what about how you said you can marry me tomorrow?" Kyung inquired.

"That wasn't something I..." Her fleeting gaze returned to the male. "wanted to say either." She sighed heavily. "Ah, I truly hate this."

Kyung breathed through his mouth, features reflecting an inner conflict. "Why do you hate it?" He asked, looking at the female who kept her head low. "You like me."

"Like I said," Dan Oh looked up again. "me liking you was just a set up. So you don't have to put an act in the shadow." She chuckled, low and bitter. "Where will I be on the next stage? At a hospital? Or at a wedding all? I don't care what it is, but the real Dan Oh isn't there."

Kyung closed his hand around the trinket, letting out a chuckle of his own. "You never showed your real self in a single moment you were with me? Then, what about when you were kid in that hospital?" His own gaze shifted, lowering as he breathed through his mouth again. "Is the Eun Dan Oh in my memories real or fake?" He inquired.

"I have no idea." Dan Oh replied, choking up as tears welled in her eyes. "But, I do know this for sure: From now on, everything that Dan Oh does on stage is just what the writer wants. Nothing more, nothing less."

Kyung's eyes twitched, but he remained silent as the female walked past him. His eyes followed Dan Oh, but he couldn't manage to say anything. He took one final glance at the trinket, tears misting his eyes. _If she wasn't, his happiness, then where was it?_

~^~

Baek Kyung did not go to school the following day. But thanks to Oh Nam Ju, he knew he'd be summoned to a sandwich shop tonight for a scene. And had texted number five about it. He'd had no reply to his single text though. So it was probably all pointless. Sighing, the male rubbed his hands across his face, and through his hair. Odds were, the writer was going to make an ass out of him again, but there truly was no point in trying to remain away. So Baek Kyung sat in his room, more frustrated than ever, as he awaited to be summoned. And it felt incredibly shallow and left him entirely powerless. His fate, was controlled by a merciless stranger. And he understood now, why Dan Oh and Do Hwa had tried so hard to be more than just characters, it was about controlling your own fate instead of suffering through a story that was about other people.

He appeared in the midst of a party, in a black suit with a party hat atop of his head. Right in time to see Do Hwa blow on candles that said 'A3'. Just then, the door of the shop was pushed open, number five huffing loudly as she stepped in. Of course, Ju Da rose to her feet, going to tell that customer that there were nothing left to sell. But Do Hwa followed after her, upon recognizing the female. "Oh, Daseot." He grinned, hands pocketed in his pants. "You came to celebrate my reintegration in the A3 too?"

"Nope." The female replied. "I just came for a sandwich."

"I bought all the sandwiches." Nam Ju spoke, appearing besides the other two.

"I know." Daseot replied. "But I can see a couple of them over there. And I'm really hungry, could I just..." She took a step forward but was stopped by the sound of a page flipping. A second later, Do Hwa was back to blowing on candles and the female stood outside of the shop, watching the small group celebrate.

Scoffing in disbelief, Daseot pushed the door open again, marching straight to them and mercilessly sinking her nails in the pile of sandwiches organized like a cake. "Forgive me," She said, bringing a handful to her mouth. "But I was really hungry." She spoke around a mouthful. Much like the rest of the group, Baek Kyung's eyes widened at that second intrusion. The female winked at him. But again, things returned to their place.

Kyung's eyes shot to the door as the scene restarted, watching as Do Hwa's classmate gently pushed the door. Something in her gaze had shifted, amused determination was replaced by something cold. It seemed that her condition had dawned on her. She couldn't make huge changes. The scene had to happen the way it was designed to. Extra or not, she couldn't ruin it, couldn't change it truly. Just alter it a little. So this time around, she watched them exist. Chuckling softly, she dared stepping forward when Baek Kyung turned down Dan Oh's sandwich offer. "Isn't your fiancé so caring?" Daseot spoke, cutting Oh Nam Ju before he could speak, and only looking at a seemingly saddened Dan Oh. "He worries about your health, so he prefers that you eat all the sandwiches possible." She forced a smile at the words. "Isn't it right, Eun Dan Oh?"

Dan Oh's gaze shifted at the words, refocusing on Kyung as if she had just discovered something new. "Aw." She spoke softly, a smile returning to her face as the male lowered his head, the tip of his ears reddening.

"Ah, Daseot! Will you celebrate my return as a member of A3 with us?" Do Hwa asked, smiling brightly at his classmate.

The female gently shook her head. "No." She lowered her gaze, letting out a soft chuckle. "I'm not expected." She bit her bottom lip. "I just wanted a sandwich. But there don't seem to be any left to buy."

"You can take one before you go." Yeo Ju Da offered, gesturing at the ones on the tables.

"Ah, well..." She sighed softly. "I find that I'm not really hungry anymore."

"Still." Do Hwa reached for a sandwich on the carefully assembled pile before standing up. "Please." He walked to the female, handing it to her. "Take that, at least."

Number five mustered a smile. "You're so nice, always..." She took ahold of the sandwich offered. Then nodded at the group. "Goodbye." She spoke quietly before leaving.

"Ah, as I was about to say, I have prepared this belated party for Do Hwa's return within A3. Do Hwa-ya, my woman congratulates you."

"Your woman?" Do Hwa inquired.

" _Kure, ne yeoja_." Nam Ju repeated.

"You two, what's wrong? Have you forgotten? A3 shines the brightest when you're all together." Yeo Ju Da spoke, effectively making anyone aware cringe a little. It made sense in a way, something that cheesy out of Nam Ju's mouth had to come from Ju Da.

"Anyway, enjoy." Nam Ju spoke, sitting back.

"If you enjoy the food, you won't gain calories. So enjoy." Ju Da spoke, ever so brightly. "Give me a minute," She excused herself before disappearing to retrieve a sandwich on a platter. "Tadah! My special sandwich just for you." She told Do Hwa. "It's your welcome back gift."

"Thanks."Do Hwa spoke, reaching out for it. Nam Ju put a hand on the sandwich as well, making his friend chuckle. "I believe this is for me."

"Ya! Why would my woman make this for you?" Nam Ju asked.

"You keep saying 'my woman' but are you two officially a couple?" Do Hwa shot back.

"Didn't you hear the announcement?" Nam Ju retorted.

"That's why I'm asking. Did you forget about our fair and square competition?" Nam Ju chuckled at Do Hwa's words. "Did Ju Da accept your feelings?" The violonist's turn to chuckle. "Don't tell me you're doing this without her consent."

"Ya! That is—"

Ju Da slapped their hands away. "I'll cut it in half. Friends shouldn't fight, right?" She pointedly declared before disappearing again.

Mercifully, the scene ended. All aware people removed their party hats. Both Kyung and Do Hwa rose to their feet. "Give me her phone number, I'll get to her." Do Hwa spoke. "You shouldn't have asked her to—"

"No." Kyung interrupted. "I'll do it. I really thought... But..." He ran a hand through his hair.

"She can't fix things for you. Just like–" Do Hwa stopped himself.

"I got it." Kyung repeated.

"She's aware, right?" Dan Oh asked. Do Hwa nodded. The female huffed softly, standing as well. "Do Baek Kyung..." She sighed. "Even if she could change fate, your fate, our fate, I..."

He shook his head. "I get it. And I tried, I tried to change things, because I thought that's what you wanted. But it's not. Not really. You say that you don't know if the Eun Dan Oh from my memories was real or fake, well, I wish she was real. All the time. I wish there was no difference between stage and shadow, just you, and more you. More us. Think about it. There must be a reason why things keep going back to their rightful place. But I don't have time to convince you, I can't convince shadow you of anything really." He chuckled. "Just think about it, us." His eyes casted around the small group to which he decided to bare his soul. And sighed. "If I can't get to Daseot, I'll text you her number." He told Do Hwa before heading out.

Dan Oh fell back onto her seat, pressing the lock button of her phone to look at the lockscreen that kept reappearing, every single time.

"What's going on exactly?" Kyung faintly heard Nam Ju say as the door of the shop closed behind him.

Fishing his phone out as he marched around, wondering where someone with no place to go, would go, he called Daseot hoping she'd pick up.

She did. After two rings. "It worked, right?" Was what she opened with. "The last time, it worked? I wasn't sent away again, so I thought—"

"Are you okay?" Baek Kyung asked.

"Me? Of course. I'm the nameless extra who helped a protagonist, as expected. Why wouldn't I be? Thanks to you, I get to be more than a zombie walking down school hallways for no reason." She chuckled, the wet sound betraying that she wasn't as happy as she was attempting to make him believe.

"I think I should be the one thanking you." Kyung replied. "But I don't think changing the stage can change how Dan Oh feels in the shadow." He sighed.

"Yeah, dummy, I could have told you that myself." The female replied.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because you needed hope." Dausut sighed. "But Baek Hyung, if you want Dan Oh to choose you, really choose you, you should start by figuring out who that is. Who is Baek Kyung outside of his set up. Who is Baek Kyung when he is not his character? Don't you want to find that out too?"

"What if I'm worse?" The male asked. "Or what if there is nothing more than my setup? What if my personality on stage, just is, who I am."

"Then who are you? Who are you really? I'm not asking about your story, I'm asking about you as a person." She chuckled. "If you can answer that, then you're probably more real than many. Because I have never met anyone who really knew who they were. Life is the whole process of figuring that out. And it's never too late to start being. Try to be more than your setup. See how that goes."

"You're not mad at me?" Baek Kyung asked.

"No. But I don't want you to find me either. I just... I need to be alone for a while."

"I thought lonesomeness was my thing." Kyung argued, stilling in his senseless steps.

"It's not a Baek Kyung exclusive." He could almost picture her rolling her eyes. That brought a smile to his face. "Listen, if you don't need me to change your fate anymore, would you mind if we went back to how things were before? Tonight," She sighed. "it really hurt. To realize that my existence could be denied so easily. To feel that I was intended not to matter, it really did hurt. And I think, I just need to do some things on my own, in my own little corner, and accept that it's how things will be for me. Once I get there, I'll get to you. You can do that for me, right? We're friends now, real friends, right?"

"We are." Kyung agreed, nodding to himself. The male lowered his head. "I'm sorry if you felt like you had to prove it to me."

Daseot chuckled. "I didn't feel like I had to do anything. I did for you, because I wanted. Because when I saw how much it mattered to you, how much hope you placed in me, I didn't want to let you down. But, I forgot about myself for a second. And it seems like ultimately, most people will. There's nothing to be done about it." Kyung opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, falling short. After a long beat, number five went on: "It's okay to be you. Just you. Next time you're about to do something, ask yourself if it's you or your character seeping through in the shadow and figure out which path you want to pursue. Anyway, _ahjussi, anyeong_." With those words, the female hung up.

~^~

"Trumpet creeper..." Baek Kyung mumbled, looking up from the botanical book he'd borrowed from the library. Now he was certain, it was the title of the manhwa he'd seen, that orange flower was everywhere. He had to give it to the writer, it was a clever way to subtly reference past work. At that moment, Do Hwa entered the A3's room. "Where have you been?"

"I was on stage just now." The violonist replied, taking a seat. "I think Nam Ju is going to confess his feelings to Ju Da. He's ordering the students to set up an event."

Kyung hummed softly at the news. "That gives me an idea." He furrowed his brows. "We can't freely move on stage when we're drawn in it, because we're characters, but everything that happens during a stage in remembered by all, right?"

"Yeah, according to Jinmichae Yeojong, that's how it works." Do Hwa acquiesced.

"So technically an event doesn't have to be drawn on the stage to be remembered, just to happen during one, right?" Do Hwa nodded, trying to follow his friends's track of thoughts. "Then technically, I'd be allowed to do something during a stage I'm not drawn on, and it would be remembered by everyone." Kyung's gaze left the distance to refocus on his friend. "Do Hwa-ya, I need your help."

Do Hwa nodded at the words. "What can I do?"

"If Nam Ju really is planning to confess, Sae Mi won't just stand around doing nothing. That means soon enough, a stage will start about Sae Mi learning about it, another about her doing something to derail that plan, whatever. I'll keep an eye on her. When it starts, I'll text you, I want you to do something for me..."

Once the plan properly exposed, Kyung and Do Hwa started to talk practicalities, trying to figure out the most efficient way to reach the intended outcome. Once satisfied, the two males separated, each returning to his respective class.

Apparently, following Sae Mi around meant having lunch with her, Su Cheol and Dan Oh. It could be worse. It could be a lot better too. Kyung opened his mouth when he heard her complain about Ju Da again. "You can't help it Sae Mi, you're the —" He stopped himself, eyes falling shut as he inhaled through his nose. He could be more mindful than his character. Nobody would want to hear that they were the villain of the story. Nor do people like to be summed up to their set up apparently. "Sorry." Kyung reopened his eyes. "You're the one who was there first, true." His eyes fell on Dan Oh. "But Nam Ju is the only one who gets to decide if it matters. Nam Ju, is the only one who gets to choose how he feels. He's the only one who can decide, how much importance he is willing to give to his memories."

Dan Oh swallowed at the words. Her lips parted in an attempt to say something, but not a sound came up. Sae Mi loudly sighed. "You're right. But I just wish we could be like you and Dan Oh. I just wish, he would finally see me, like you finally saw Dan Oh."

"It might be a little too late for that." Dan Oh spoke. "It's okay for Nam Ju to fall for someone new. It's his life after all. He doesn't owe you anything because you were there first." Sae Mi got on her feet at the cutting tone, rushing away. Of course Su Cheol hastily excused himself before following her away. "See what you did."

"You, did this." Kyung argued, standing up as well. "I gave her hope."

"There isn't any to have."

"Wouldn't it have been more cruel to tell her her role? Do I constantly have to be the villain in your story?" Kyung asked. "Nevermind." He stood. "I've got something to do. Please, eat a lot." He gave a final nod before leaving, abandoning his tray on the table. His eyes met with Haru for a second, the other male approaching the table as Baek Kyung took his leave. Choosing to avoid confrontation, he merely glared silently and went out after Sae Mi and Su Cheol.

~^~

Disbelief writing itself on his features as he sunk on a bench besides Shin Sae Mi, Kyung cleared his throat. "Take it from someone who isn't nice and has left a girl grow heartbroken over him for over ten years. Sometimes, one just doesn't see. Dan Oh was besides me all along and I wouldn't pay enough attention to realize how much that mattered. But love, it's..." He sighed. "It's always been very near. Once you know how to look." He gestured at an approaching Su Cheol carrying strawberry milk and a cake box with his chin. "Someone's coming. I should go, wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression."

"Baek Kyung-ah..." The female looked up at he stood. "Thank you. Truly."

The male stilled, not daring to look back. "Let's keep this between the two of us. I have a reputation to uphold." He walked away after he heard a small chuckle from the girl. Just then, the sound of a page turning was hard. He knew, it was the moment. Whipping his phone out, he called Do Hwa and started rushing inside the school. "Where are you?" He asked, as soon as the other male picked up.

"I'm sorry..." Do Hwa spoke. "But she doesn't seem to want to see you. Or talk to me, for the matter."

Kyung came to a halt, brows creasing. "What?"

"She said she doesn't want to get involved with any of us right now. She prefers to be an ordinary extra."

The tennis player's lips parted at the words and he let out a loud exhale. "Where is she? Right now, where is she?"

"I don't know. Last time I saw her, she was heading for the rooftop." Do Hwa replied. "But Kyung, if she doesn't want to see us, we should do that for her."

"Haven't you heard? I'm selfish." Baek Kyung declared before hanging up. Glancing around as he stood in the school's large entrance hall, the male sought out for the fastest path to the rooftop. He settled for the large staircases, and climbed them with haste. He knew, it'd be too late for his plan, but regardless, he hoped to talk with the girl.

"I knew you weren't really napping." Baek Kyung paused recognizing Daseot's voice as he stood in front of the doors. She wasn't alone?

"I was resting my eyes. I have a lot on my mind." Oh Nam Ju?? Those two knew each other?

"Do you? Really?" The female chuckled. "What could possible trouble our main character?"

Nam Ju sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"Thank you, but I'd rather not share my problems with a fangirl."

The girl scoffed. "I'm not a fan, I swear on A3's honor." She snorted.

"How can you not be?" Nam Ju asked.

The female loudly sighed. "I don't know. I wish I was." A pause. "I wish I was a lot less things to be honest."

"Me too." Nam Ju agreed. "It's suffocating sometimes to mean so much to so many people. Especially when I don't even know who I am."

" _Daebak. Do jinjia..._ " The female let out a soft sigh of amazement. "You actually have depth. You're complex, without being aware. Woah, _jagga-nim_ might actually have some talent, huh?" She let out a soft chuckle, that turned into a fake coughing fit. "Sorry. Even if you won't remember, it truly means a lot that you're confiding in me. But, I have very little to offer except from a hug. I'm not in the right headspace to console anyone. So my alternative offer is to silently overthink things together."

Nam Ju chuckled. "I'm just glad you're not offering me strawberry milk. I really hate that sweet thing." With those words, the two burst into into laughter.

A short lived, laughter. That died as soon as the stage changed. Baek Kyung finally pushed the door, to find Daseot alone, sadness in her gaze as she contemplated the empty spot next to her. "There's something I have to do." The female's finally trailed to him. She sighed and stood up, intending to leave. "Wait,"He stood in her way. "it won't take long." He retrieved a marker in the front pocket of his shirt and uncapped it with his mouth as he reached out for the blank name tag on her uniform. Ignoring her objections, he scribbled something on it. "I intended to make it a lot more public, Nam Ju style, so people would know who you are. But you wouldn't even talk to me." He put the name tag back. "Eun Myong-i." He tentatively let the words roll off his tongue. It sounded right.

Daseot's eyes widened. "Why? Why would you do that?" She asked, tears welling in her eyes. "Don't you understand that there's no point? I don't want to exist just for you."

"What happens during a stage remains." Kyung replied. "And now you are, Na Eun Myong."

The female's brows creased. " _Neo unmyong?_ "

"Yes. My fate. And I'm using it, to give you your own. You might be an extra, but you're not ordinary."

"I'm not extraordinary either." She chose to reply, eyes falling shut for a second and discreet tears pearling out of the corners. "Thank you for the name. But that doesn't give me an existence. You can't change my fate, because I barely have one." With those words, she walked past him and he knew better than to try to hold her back.

~^~

"Are you going home?" Kyung asked, catching up with Dan Oh. The female seemed particularly absorbed in her phone so he decided to just look as well, taking it from her. Ignoring her protests to give it back, Kyung frowned. "You said you'd only set the picture of us as a wallpaper." He argued, glaring at Haru's smile. "What are you doing?"

"Why do you keep trying to pick a fight with me?" Dan Oh asked, retrieving her phone.

Kyung paused, a hand returning to his pocket. "Pick a fight?"

"You don't have to do that in the shadow. I guess we all have our parts to play on stage, but you bully Haru and give Sae Mi false hope. Stop messing with my friends."

The male lowered his head, something somber and pained passed in his gaze as a heavy silence fell. "I just can't seem to get it right."

"What?"

"Bye." Kyung dismissively replied, walking past the female. He was stopped a couple of steps ahead, a scene starting.

"Where do want to have our wedding?" Dan Oh asked, a bright smile on her face as they walked side by side.

"We should follow what the elders decide." Kyung replied. Elders, his foot. As if he still had an ounce of respect for his father. 

"I want to have an outdoors wedding on a sunny day." Dan Oh went on, dreamily. "I want to invite my friends. And... Do it before I die."

Baek Kyung stopped walking, the tenseness in his features feeling uncomfortably genuine. The mere thought of truly loosing Dan Oh was far too frightening, stage or shadow. "Ya," The female turned to look at him. "don't speak like that. It's annoying."

"Do you find marrying me that annoying?" She asked, sounding saddened. "You accepted, so I thought...."

"No. That's not what I meant, I—" Right then, the female's heart picked up and her watch started beeping. Worried, the male reached out to steady her. Then flung his bag over his shoulder, dropping it to the ground and getting her on his back to transport her to the hospital.

And before he knew, the male stood besides his own father in a hospital room, Dan Oh laying in the bed in front of them. "It's all my fault. I'm sorry." Baek Kyung spoke, head hanging low. "I'm truly sorry."

"Why don't you explain what happened to him in detail?" His father urged.

"No need." Dan Oh's father intervened. "Baek Kyung, it's not your fault." Their eyes shifted to the young female laying asleep as a heavy silence fell into the room. The older man stood, patting Kyung's shoulder as he walked past before exiting the room in the company of the young male's father. 

Heaving a long breath, mouth open, Baek Kyung reached out for Dan Oh, stopping himself before he could take her hand into his. "Please," Tears welled in the male's eyes as he tucked his hands back in his pockets. "please don't leave me too." With those words, he exited the room. And found his stepmother there with his half brother. "Why are you here?" He asked, approaching the two, a certain edge in his tone.

"Your father called us." The woman replied, a smile on her face. "We heard Dan Oh was very sick."

The A3 member let out a scoff of disbelief.

"What's so funny?" The stepmother inquired.

"I just realized you were so consistent." Baek Kyung replied. "You're a nasty woman who only thinks about money. On and off stage." He took a step closer to her. "Are you worried that Dad might hand me over all of his shares after I marry Dan Oh?" He ignored the scoff he was met with, letting his anger take over. "How dare you come here? My mother died in this very hospital. If you took my mother's spot, behave yourself. Don't be so greedy!"

That's the moment Baek Kyung's father chose to intervene, grabbing his son by the collar of his shirt. "You punk! How dare you run your mouth like that here?! What if Chairman Eun sees you?"

Baek Kyung's eyes widened, mouth hanging open as he realized that truly, all his father would ever care about was money. And a family that hardly included him.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, turning to a suddenly crying woman. He thoughtfully wrapped an arm around her, leading her away without a single glance back.

"The three of you!" Kyung yelled. "Certainly look happy given that you're a fake, family. But WHY WERE YOU NEVER KIND TO MY MOTHER OR I?!"

"I told you to watch your mouth." His father repeated in a snarl.

"You're a hypocrite taking advantage of a dying girl...."

"You brat..." His father approached, intending to hit him. But his younger brother stood in the way, getting punched instead. And stood again, between the father and the oldest son, holding him back.

"Nothing about this family..." Kyung shook his head. "seems right." With those words, Baek Kyung spun on his feet, ignoring his father's yelling to come back.

"Hyung! Hyung!" The younger brother called after him, running to catch up.

"Stop following me!" Baek Kyung shot back, spinning on his feet to face the younger boy. "You exist to drive me crazy!"

"Can't we just... Can't we live like this?"

"What?" Baek Kyung asked, brows creasing.

"Father is not always violent like this. And once you marry Dan Oh noona—" "What do you know, punk?" Kyung interrupted. "All you can do is follow you role." He sighed heavily, remembering earlier conversations about who he was, who he wanted to be. Dan Oh, Do Hwa, Eun Myong. "You have no idea how it feels do you? Still, how can you not see? He's not always violent? How is that enough? You took a hit today, once, for me. Because I'm the one who constantly gets hurt. Do you realize that I'm 18 and about to get married just because my father is greedy? To a girl who's gonna..." The male's eyes widened, tears welling in his eyes as he exhaled through his mouth.

"Hyung," His half-brother grabbed his wrist, and Kyung tugged to free himself. "Please don't change anything." Baek Kyung just walked away, without saying another word.

~^~

Without a warning, Baek Kyung was transported back into high school, carrying a reusable water bottle and rushing inside the classroom. He handed the water to Dan Oh as she started coughing. "Are you alright?"

Dan Oh looked up to him, a smile on her features. "Ah _dae_. Thank you."

"My family told me yesterday," Kyung swallowed. "that our wedding will be moved up. Do you really want to marry me?" Dan Oh nodded a few times, her smile remaining. "Don't. I'm giving you an out for your sake." A certain relief washed over the male as he heard the words. His character wasn't entirely horrible then. He, wasn't, entirely horrible. "I don't care if I get married or not. But you'll get hurt."

"I'm fine." Dan Oh replied, with that spark of hope in her gaze, false happiness. "You're Baek Kyung. The love of my life." Mercifully,the scene ended with those words.

"Don't marry me." Baek Kyung repeated, ignoring the jealousy that tugged at his guts as Dan Oh sought out Haru.

The female paused, taken aback then turned to face him. "What?"

"You're right. If you can change your fate. You deserve better than my family. I think, I do too."

"Did something happen?" The female inquired, brows creasing as genuine worry filled her gaze. "Oh! Haru-ya!" She waved past Kyung to the fellow extra. "Ah wait," She turned back to Kyung. "are you okay?"

Kyung chose to say nothing as Haru approached them. Instead, he turned away and chose to exit the classroom. And headed instead to the kitchens. Pushing the doors, he headed to the back. "Where is the book?" He asked recognizing the squid fairy's back.

"What book?" Jinmichae Yeojong asked, turning to face the highs schooler.

"Trumpet creeper." Kyung replied. "The book you took away from me the other day. I can't seem to find it anymore, no matter how hard I look."

"I don't understand what you're talking about." The older male replied, turning away.

"It's odd." Kyung spoke, observing the other male. "I keep getting the feeling that there's something in that book... Once I find it, you will have to talk to me." He told Jinmichae Yeojong, their gazes meeting again for intense long seconds before Kyung decided to leave.

"Hey!" Do Hwa spoke, grinning as he bumped into his friend. "You okay bud?"

Kyung sighed. "Am I the villain?"

"What?" Do Hwa blinked.

"Am I a bad person? Me?" Kyung reiterated.

"Oh." The violinist sighed. "I don't know. But I dont think so. You're my friend. Have always been as far as I can remember. Are you perfect? No. But who is? Listen," He clasped a hand on Baek Kyung's shoulder. "You haven't been aware for long, right? And you're still struggling with figuring out where the stage ends. I think, I think you need time. To discover who you are. But I know, there's good in you. And that counts for something."

"What if whomever I end up being off stage is nothing remarkable? What if I'm just an extension of shadow me? Will that be enough?" Kyung asked.

"Yes." Do Hwa replied. "You don't have to be a different person in the shadow to be a good one. Or to be valid. There can just be you, and more you. More subtle, more complex, more caring, more carefree. Less lonely, less hurting..."

Baek Kyung sighed heavily. "I have tennis practice." He declared. "I'll see you later." After a nod from Do Hwa, the male walked away, lost in thoughts still.

Finding an outlet in tennis, Kyung decided to release all of his pent up frustration on the field, being met with poor opponents of little will. Once beaten, and quite easily at that, nobody wanted to face him again for a rematch. Annoyed by Haru's absence, the male left the tennis field without a word or a glance back. And found Haru by the lockers as he re-entered the school. "How dare you," He threw his racket bag at his own locker, closing it. "open my locker without my permission? Go around withDan Oh and befriend Lee Do Hwa?" He slammed his hand again the locker, sealing it shut. "Some might think you're me." Without the heartache, without the pain, without the traumas. Better. Easier. "Why is that?! Why, if the writer created this world, why are you the only one who gets a special treatment?!"

"I too, wonder." Haru replied. "Why does the writer keep putting me with you?" He inquired before pushing Kyung back.

"I'll find the answer." Baek Kyung replied. "And end this."

Haru shoved the other male's racket towards his chest. "Kure. You wanted to train, right? Then let's go training."

Kyung snarled. "I'm not in the mood anymore. You can't win anyway. Not against me."

"Why? Because it's my character?" Haru inquired. "Are you scared of loosing?"

"Is it still about tennis? Or are you talking about Dan Oh? Do I have to remind you again that she's just an extra with a crush on me?"

Haru grabbed the front of Kyung's shirt. "I don't care about what you do or say to me. But, don't ever hurt Dan Oh in any way no matter where you are. I can't stand to see her get hurt, be concerned about you, or have a tough time because of you."

"You're just an extra who doesn't get a single scene without me. What can you do?" Kyung inquired, removing Haru's hands and pushing him away.

"I'll change the story, if I must."

"You'll change what has already been drawn?"

"It hasn't been drawn yet." Haru shot back. "It's still getting drawn. The pages the writer hasn't filled in yet are still empty."

Kyung's lips curled up. "How can you be so sure?" He smugly asked. "How can you tell if the writer is still drawing this or if the writer finished it already? Please, stop talking nonsense and just stay out of Dan Oh and I's story."

" _Neo... Eun Dan Oh, joa?_ " Haru asked, surprising Baek Kyung. The A3 member's eyes widened for a second before he blinked it away. "Forget about your character." Haru went on. "Do you like Eun Dan Oh?"

Kyung opened his mouth, no word coming out but his features shifting to reflect a myriad of confusing emotions before they settled back into an antagonistic frown. "Who are you to ask me that?"

"Because I do like her, Eun Dan Oh." Haru simply replied, stunning Baek Kyung.

~^~

Pushing the doors leading to an upper terrace with more strength than necessary, a frustrated Baek Kyung decided to let out some of his anger on a nearby barrel turned table, kicking off everything that sat atop of it. Pausing, hands on his hips, the male's brows creased as he recognized something. A familiar type of drawings on half burnt pages. Getting closer, Baek Kyung gathered what he guessed was a page of The Trumpet Creeper. Then another, and another. Avidly, he collected all the salvageable ones before he left the rooftop, heading straight to the A3's room.

There, and only after checking that he was alone, did the male start reading through. Not only characters, but full sentences and situations had been lifted from a story to another. Standing up, the male hastily pocketed the pages before rushing to the library, hoping to figure out what part he was supposed to play.

But there, he found Do Hwa mumbling to himself, lines he'd heard and situations that seemed incredibly familiar. Without a word, Kyung reached out for his friend's book, skimming through and hoping to find an answer. "Hey, I wasn't done!" Do Hwa pointed out. Ashamed by his lack of care, Baek Kyung handed the manhwa right back. "This is only possible because they're main characters, right?" He said after a couple of seconds and a loaded sigh.

"Main characters?" Kyung inquired.

"These kind of scenes," The kind that Kyung had seen himself depicted in with Dan Oh. "they're only given to main characters. It's cool and heartening. Even in a hundred years, I wouldn't compare to Oh Nam Ju..." He closed the novel. "I should stop reading that kind of stories. The second lead always is so foolish. It makes me feel miserable, how much I can relate to them as a fellow supporting male lead."

Kyung brought a hand to his friend's chest as he attempted to leave. "So that means, that means the character who brings the flower, whose there at the right moment, who sweeps the girl off her feet, it's the main, right? He's happy in the end? Really happy?"

Do Hwa's brows creased. "Yes, I, I guess so."

Kyung's lips faintly curled up at the prospect, before he schooled his features again. "Lee Do Hwa, you were set up to always be a little too late to get the girl, but there's no time set for happiness. Listen, I'm crap at advice. I'm crap at anything like that really. And I have no idea how you kill a feeling. I don't know how you get over someone. Maybe you never do."

"Wow, such comforting words." The violinist cut in, followed by a chuckle.

Baek Kyung rolled his eyes. "But, I know what kind of person you are. You're bright, and positive and I'm certain, you'll be happy somehow. You have to be. You're the most deserving of us all."

"Woah." Do Hwa sniffed a little, feigning to wipe away a tear. "Come in here." He held out his arms open.

"Never again." Kyung replied, taking a protective step back.

"It's too late, it's decided." Do Hwa spoke, taking a step forward as his friend took another backwards. "I'm gonna hug you, whether you like it or—" The male gasped when his friend took off running. "Oh it's on now!" Do Hwa yelled, following Kyung outside of the library and through the school's hallways.

Baek Kyung ran ahead, eyes wide as he desperately tried to choose a way to go and ended up bumping into a girl. Sliding a hand around her waist to stop her fall, he helped her back on her feet. "Oh, Ju Da-ya. Sorry."

She smiled. "It's all okay." She spoke, her hands resting on his shoulders.

Kyung glanced behind him a second and chuckled, focusing back on the girl. "Yeah, actually it's perfect." He agreed, taking a step to the side. "Sorry again." He the repeated, then pushing her forwards. And straight into Do Hwa's arms. If that wasn't a situation main characters worthy, the male thought, watching as the two collided, Do Hwa quite literally dipping her to avoid the fall. Only thing missing was a halo and some passerby's. Good thing is, students were always quick to gather wherever there was drama involving main characters. About that, perhaps it was time to have another conversation with the squid fairy.

Tucking his hand his pockets, Kyung decided to skip class altogether to find the blond man. He was certain now, that Jiminchae Yeojong knew a lot more than he was pretending.

After trying the kitchen and the cafeteria, Kyung figured he'd try the rooftop terrace where he'd found the burnt pages. And found the older man there. Knocking on an open door to make his presence known, the tennis player held a page with burnt edges up for the other male to see, chuckling when Jinmichae Yeojong's gaze trailed to the box where Kyung had found the ashes. "Aish, you're making it way too obvious, that you burnt this book." He spoke approaching the kitchen worker. "Will you pretend that you're clueless again?"

"Where did you find this?" The squid fairy inquired.

"I told you, that you'd have to talk to me once I find that book." Kyung replied. "I don't think the story is from this world. The writer, did he write this before?" He hummed upon seeing the expression shift on the other male's features. "I guess I'm right."

The Squid Fairy chuckled. "So what if it's the writer's previous book? The former work has nothing to do with this one. It already ended, so it has no power."

"You say it already over and it has no power, but why then, did you try so hard to hide it? She said the exact same lines as in that book, Eun Dan Oh."

"Even so, what do you want?" Jinmichae Yeojong inquired.

"What do I want? Getting back what was taken from me." He gestured at the page again. "That's what I want. For everything to go back the way it was." The two held each other's gaze silently, something foreign to Kyung silencing the other. The student walked away, looking down at the page. Did it truly hold the key to his happiness? It had to. She, had to. She was the only constant in his life.

Pocketing back the page, Baek Kyung reentered busy school hallways. Fingers tangling in his hair as he drew them back, the male narrowing his eyes as he felt gaze on him. More than usual. Walking past the whispering people in the hallways, it took him a little while to understand that people weren't looking at him. But behind him. Brows creasing, he peered over his shoulder to find Dausut-- no, Eun Myong apologizing to Nam Ju and offering a bag of crackers. The female then rushed away, leaving the male fairly confused.

Kyung watched, as Nam Ju processed what happened, features shifting into a small smile for a second before it disappeared. "Oh, Kyung!" The male called, acknowledging his friend. Baek Kyung nodded in return, waiting as his friend caught up with him. "I haven't seen you in class." Nam Ju pointed out, as they walked side by side. The tennis player was glaring at the bag of crackers his friend casually opened. "Ya, Baek Kyung, are you listening?" Nam Ju went on before reaching for a cracker.

"Na Eun Myong, how do you know her?" Kyung chose to ask instead.

"Eun Myong? That's her name?" Nam Ju inquired. "To be honest, I don't really know her. Only seen her once before at Do Hwa's reintegration party. But today, she walked up to me right when I was about to drink some strawberry milk, took the bottle, downed it and apologized. It was very weird to be honest. But she offered me those instead." He held the crackers up. "Honestly, it's a relief. I don't even like that sweet stuff. So I didn't complain. She's in Do Hwa's class, right? Daseot?"

"Yeah, number five." Kyung agreed, eyes narrowed as he glared at his friend. " _Na unmyong_."

Nam Ju furrowed his brows. "Your fate?"

Baek Kyung blinked, then shook his head. " _Ani. Na. Eun. Myong."_

"Oh." Nam Ju nodded before biting into another cracker.

Before Kyung could complained about the loud chewing, he was transported to his locker at the beginning of a new scene. Jaw clenching, the male braced himself. Why was he even at his locker, emptying his backpack from books of a previous class he hadn't attended? Slowly spinning on his feet, he found himself facing Dan Oh. "Just say it." He spoke, as it if he was bothered by her. "Haru doesn't need to leave." The writer truly was milking that friendship huh?

"Ah." Dan Oh's smile faded, traveling from Kyung to Haru then back to Kyung. "Okay." Kyung looked away from her peering back inside his locker to find a racket with a bow. "Oh! That's my gift!" The female declared excitedly. "You must like it." Time to be an asshole about it, Kyung could tell. "Actually, Haru helped me choose it."

Kyung eyes's left his fiancée's for a second, to glance at Haru, before focusing back on there. "I have enough of these, so don't buy me any more." The lack of energy was almost offensive to his very own self esteem.

"Oh. Understood." Dan Oh spoke, lowering her heading shame.

"And don't cause any trouble." She looked up to him. "Don't collapse and make me visit the hospital again." The male watched as her lips parted, sadness taking over her features. "Every time I go there, is driving me insane."

"I'm sorry, for being sick." What kind of message was that? Why would she apologize for something that hurt her the most and she had no control over? Why did she have to apologize to him at all?

"That's not what I meant." Relief washed over Kyung as his character attempted to right that particular wrong. But the crowd surrounding him wouldn't let them, instead, judgement fused from all sides. None good for him. Kyung chuckled. "Ya. You're always like this." He took a couple of steps towards hers, towering over her in a frightening manner. "You always make me out to be the bad guy." Wow, blaming the innocent girl. Classy. Certainly would do wonder for his popularity.

" _Mianhe_ —" Her attempt to apologize was cut short. "Stop it!" He yelled before handing the racket to Haru. "Ya, keep it or throw it away." He declared before taking his leave.

Freed a couple of steps afterwards, Baek Kyung spun on his feet, returning to the female with the intent to apologize. But Dan Oh spoke before he could. "I know you don't mean it, but it does hurt me." With those words, she turned away.

"Eun Dan Oh, wait, listen..." She kept walking. So he did what his character would do. And yelled to catch her attention.

Haru stood between the two. "I warned you, didn't I? I wouldn't let you hurt Dan Oh."

"But did he?" A voice interrupted. Most students' eyes sought out the person who'd spoken. She marched down the large stairs, unbothered and determined. "You're aware too, aren't you?" She inquired, moving closer to the three as she anchored her gaze in Haru's. "Then answer me this, when did shadow Baek Kyung, hurt, Eun Dan Oh?" The female rose an eyebrow. "Was it when he went back into the forest to search for her? Was it when he asked if she truly was okay the following day? Was it when he attached that stupid orange trinket to his backpack? Was it when he picked up the sandwich the writer had made him refuse when she offered it to him and took a huge bite out of it to try to make up for it?" She sighed. "Right. You're the nice one, Haru. Nobody would deny that. But have you ever wondered if it wasn't because you had the opportunity to be? Because people wanted to see more than what the writer wrote for you? Because people wanted you to be more than a quasi inexistant setup? Why is it that Sae Mi gets a pass for being a bully both on stage and in the shadows, but Baek Kyung is the villain? Is it practical that way? Easier for you to make no difference?" The female nodded a few times. "Baek Kyung isn't nice. In fact, he isn't much. But that's only because few will let him be more." Expectig no reply to those words, she indulged herself a glance around. Her eyes settled on a particular face. "Do Hwa-ya." She smiled. "Let's go."

The A3 member smiled back, nodding at his classmate and climbing down the stairway himself to catch up with her, as she disappeared in a corridor. He clasped a hand on Kyung's shoulder as he went, before rushing after the girl.

Baek Kyung sighed, focusing his gaze on Dan Oh. "I know that what I say on stage hurts. That's why most of the time I don't try to make up for it. Because I don't know how to. But I'll figure it out. Eventually." He swallowed. "You say it hurts, really, truly hurts. Don't you wonder why? Why even though you know it was on stage, you still hurt in the shadows? What's real then? How do you pick? Is your pain false? How can a heartbreak that isn't real actually hurt you? Where do stage feelings end? Can you answer me clearly?" The female's lips parted, eyes wide as she struggled to articulate any reply. "That's what I thought. You don't know. That's how I constantly feel." He admitted. "My memories, my emotions, my traumas, my story, it's not just my character. It's me too. Us, it has to be more than a set up. Because you're you, and more of you. And I'm me, and I'm trying to figure out how to be more of that without breaking your heart. I can't loose you. Not you too." Dan Oh bit her upper lip, looking utterly distraught as tears started to well in her eyes.

Kyung sighed deeply, turning to Haru. "Right. You're always there to be nice to her." He chuckled, humorlessly. "It annoys me to no end." He admitted, through gritted teeth. "We could've been friends, great friends, even. But for some reason, fate places you where I want to be. When did you become a main character?" He inquired, glancing around at all the gazes on them and choosing to take his leave. He ought to thank someone.

Heading to the music room, which he guessed was where Do Hwa and Eun Myong went, the male wondering if he'd revealed too much. This was a huge confession to make. Letting anyone else peer into his heart was absolutely terrifying. But he desperately needed Dan Oh into his life. She was his happiness. Had to be.

"I thought you didn't want to hear from us again, so why?" Kyung stilled in front of the doors, recognizing Do Hwa's voice.

" _Kunyang_." The female cryptically replied. "And aren't you the one who told me all those things about Baek Kyung to show me he was a good person?"

"I mean, yeah. But if I recall well, you said that it didn't matter and to not talk to you again. Quite harshly at that. I almost cried."

"Really?" Daseot inquired. " _Mianhe. Do Hwa-ya, jeongmal mianhabnida._ " There was a silent pause. Kyung carefully pushed the door to peer inside and saw the two hug. "You're my only friend in this messed up world."

"What about Kyung?" She pulled away as soon aw he said those words, to glare at him. "What you helped him today I thought..."

"I haven't changed my mind about Baek Kyung. I have no intention to speak to him again. Ya, seriously! I only spoke to Haru and didn't even look at him once!" She argumented, before the two started laughing. Kuyng closed the door back, deciding to just let them enjoy their moment. Clearly he was persona non grata.

Pressing his head to the back of the door, Baek Kyung allowed his eyes to fall shut. Where had he failed now? What else had he, not his character but himself, done wrong?

"Oh, Baek Kyung, are you alright?" He reopened his eyes at the words, finding Sae Mi on her own for once.

"Ah, yeah." He spoke softly, distancing himself from the door to grow closer to the female. "You?"

"Ah. Yeah." She replied, on that same quiet tone. They both sighed. Then their gazes met and a small, tired smile appeared on their lips. "Do you want to be alright together? I was going to the art room."

The male's brows creased. "Art room?"

"I paint." She furrowed her brows at his shift of expression. "What? It calms me." She shrugged.

Baek Kyung chuckled. "I can't judge. I don't know how to deal with my anger yet."

"Then let's go." The female spoke, sliding an arm around his. "Oh. It's the first time I do this." She noticed, as they walked together. "People won't misinterpret it, right?"

"Shin Sae Mi, I'm a respectable man. You ought to woo me for at least ten years before I manifest any form of interest." Kyung replied.

Instead of laughing, the female grew perplexed. "Eun Dan Oh..." She spoke softly. "You like her right? Really, like her? Tell me you do. Tell me it's no longer one sided."

Kyung's eyes twitched at the shift in the female's tone. He saw genuine care in her gaze, worry too. He chose to say the truth. "It never was. I just couldn't do that to her. She deserves better than me. Better than my family."

"Maybe you should have told her that." Sae Mi spoke. "Years ago."

"Maybe." The A3 member agreed. "But it's too late now. There's no changing the past."

"There isn't." Sae Mi agreed. "But perhaps nobody should look back at it too fondly either." Baek Kyung hummed in agreement, holding the door open for her as they reached the art room.

Before he could step through though, he was transported into a new scene. Of course, it involved unnecessary halos as all A3 members walked down the school's main staircase. With a ridiculous amount of fangirls casually hanging around. Do Hwa, being the nice one paused to take pictures with different girls. And got chastised for it by Nam Ju who claimed he wasn't maintaining the A3's dignity. Of course Do Hwa offered a witty one liner in return earning himself a chuckle.

"And making her your errand girl to flirt is a way to maintain our dignity?" Kyung asked, as Yeo Ju Da approached them.

"Nam Ju-ya!" The female called, making the A3 leader panic and beg Kyung to keep his mouth shut.

"I know." The tennis player replied. "Your method is childish." He still felt the need to point out again."So when will you go out with her?"

Nam Ju opened his mouth to open but was interrupted by Ju Da. "Nam Ju, I," She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "For helping me out in the lab last time, I wanted to thank you."

"Did something happen between you two?" Do Hwa inquired, as if he didn't knew already.

"Well, Nam Ju...." "Oh, that." Nam Ju interrupted. "You don't need to know."

Kyung's gaze went from a childhood friend to another, noticing the wounded look in Do Hwa's gaze and wishing he could do something about it.

"So when will you tell me your wish?" Ju Da asked.

" _Honeul_." Nam Ju replied.

"Today?" She echoed.

"Meet me in the auditorium after class." The A3 leader spoke, earning a nod of approval from the female. And as if on cue, well, actually on cue, Sae Mi and her two acolytes glared at Ju Da for a second before walking away. "YA! You guys!" Nam Ju called, ready to yell at them.

Ju Da grabbed his arm. "Nam Ju-ya, I'm fine now." The girls left during that interaction. "No matter what happens to me, you'll come to save me."

Baek Kyung shot another glance at Do Hwa, seemingly in character this time and declared: "Oh Nam Ju, we'll get going. Lee Do Hwa, let's go." The male declared, finding relief in the fact hat his character wasn't entirely unaware of his friends' struggle.

Before he could do anything though, the scene was changing again and he stood alone. Kyung swallowed, glanced around at the faceless crowd and wondered: _what is it that truly made him different from a regular extra? A name? A backstory? Popularity at school?_ _None of it felt good, none of it made him happy._ But he had to desperately cling onto what he knew, he had to hope there would be happiness. There couldn't only be pain. It wouldn't be fair if there was only ever pain. And lonesomeness. The male bent forward, wide eyed as he clutched his chest struggling to breathe as the world started to sway beneath his feet. He fell onto his knees, trembling as he tried to make sense of a situation that didn't make any. And despite the crowd gathering around him, he realized that he was alone. No one to help, just to gawk.

So Baek Kyung squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to focus on the fact that they'd forget. Like it mattered. Like he wasn't suffocating. A hand fell on his shoulder, echoes of his name being screamed making him flinch. Then he remembered that it wad always worse when he cowered in fear, so he reopened his eyes, ready to face punishment and found worry instead. It was her, the vessel of his happiness. Or so he'd hoped for so long. "What is it? What's going on?" Dan Oh asked, sounding more worried for him than he'd heard in years, from anyone. He couldn't reply. She wasn't good at deciphering his silences. So she brought hands to his arms, planning to help him stand, and he tried to ignore the burning sensation of unwanted contact, because it was her. It didn't work for too long. This time he willingly pulled away from her instead of forcing himself closer, landing on his ass as tears welled in his eyes. "You have to tell me how you feel, what you want, how to, how to help." Dan Oh spoke, growing increasingly worried and a little erratic.

He swallowed, or attempted to swallow the nod in his throat, not wanting to let her down yet again. "I don't, I don't like being touched." Ever. Especially not during a panic attack.

She nodded. "Then what should I do?"

"Fingers." Haru's voice came through. "Count your fingers."

"Fingers?" Dan Oh echoed, confused.

"He's lost. He doesn't know what's real or not. In dreams, or nightmares, we have extra fingers. That's how he'll know it's real, that he'sreal." Haru explained. And after a nod, the female executed herself, slowly lifting her fingers one by one. Kyung's grip of his own shirt grew loose, breaths coming in easier and exhaustion seeping through. He passed out.

Instinctively, because it felt both so foreign and so familiar, Haru rushed to the other male. With a worry filled gaze, he gave Kyung a once over and checked for a heartbeat, letting out a breath of relief when he felt one underneath his fingers. "He just fainted." Haru reassuringly announced. "It's probably exhaustion. Nothing else. He's strong. Do not worry." The words directed at Dan Oh felt overused too, excuses that rang shallow and made his ears buzz. He looked down at Kyung again, and for a second he saw longer hair, sweat beading on his forehead as he heaved a little through a nightmare. Haru blinked, gently lifted up his schoolmate and decided to rush to the infirmary. He couldn't fail his king— Kyung. Baek Kyung. The sensation of duty passed, but he kept going until Baek Kyung was safely laying down. Then left, because he knew his face wouldn't be one Kyung would appreciate waking up to. Or tried, but a hand wrapped around his wrist. And a new flashback hit.

"Don't go." The voice sounded significantly more high pitched, more begging than authoritative.

And when Haru looked back, he was faced with a younger Baek Kyung, perhaps twelve hardly more. "But look what they did to you!" He heard himself arguing, pinching the Prince's cheek with one hand and bringing the royal face closer to his own. "It's gonna bruise."

"And it will have made me stronger. It's fine. I know what they all think of me. That I am an illegitimate son, born to early to have survived if my father was really the King. But I don't care. I'll make them pay for it later, all those sons of generals and all those old noblemen who doubt me. I'll rise to the throne and make them kneel. So please, don't harm yourself for me. I'll do the damage on my own terms. And I'll make it last."

Haru had chuckled back then, because they were children. But it seems now, that the child Baek Kyung was carried the hurt and the bitterness into the young man he grew to be. May it be a Prince, or a popular chaebol son. Sighing, he unclasped the fingers around his wrist and stood. "Get better." He politely said before leaving the infirmary.

~^~

Baek Kyung woke up to two concerned best friends and Eun Dan Oh holding his hand. Weird, to say the least. He didn't really remember the last time people willing stood by his side out of their own will. Usually, nobody really wanted to be there for him.

"Did something happen with your father?" Do Hwa asked, fists clenched.

And Baek Kyung chuckled. "Stop that. I'm okay."

"No. It's not okay. If he—" Do Hwa paused, remembering there were others in the room. This wasn't his story to share or not.

"It's not him." Baek Kyung replied. "It's just me."

"What does that mean? What did your father do?" Eun Dan Oh asked.

Nam Ju sighed deeply. "He's violent isn't he?" He asked, low and quiet. "I suspected it because of the school trip. When that glass dropped, the way you apologized and begged not to help you clean. It felt off. But what made me really suspicious is the fact that during the school trip, you had no issues wearing a regular bathing suit. But when it came to swimming at school, a couple days after, you were wearing a wetsuit." Baek Kyung's jaw clenched. "I never said anything because you're so closed off when it comes to your personal life. I'm sorry, that's on me." And so, he noticed. As unaware as he was, Oh Nam Ju paid attention, cared. Loved in his own, silent but meaningful way. 

"It's not." Kyung quietly replied, eyes falling shut. "It's not your responsibility to fix my problems. You can't fix everyone's problems, even if you're the hero." He chuckled, turning to Dan Oh. "Sometimes it takes a side character to change someone's fate. But those extras, as great as they might be, can only help so much. For one's fate to really change, they have to want it and work for it."

Tears welled in the female's eyes. "Baek Kuyng-ah..." She whispered. "I had no idea."

He gave her hand a light squeeze. "With everything I made you go through, what you need from me isn't excuses but an apology. And I don't think I know how to give one yet." He admitted. "Just be patient with me."

Someone knocked at the door. Then pushed it. "Not now." Nam Ju said rolling his eyes.

"I'm not here for you." Shin Sae Mi replied. "I wanted to check on a friend." She turned to Baek Kyung. "Are you okay?" He quietly nodded, making her lips curl up. And for the first time in years, Oh Nam Ju saw a little bit of the little girl he'd befriended years ago. The one who worried discreetly but loved fiercely. The boisterous friend who didn't about his korean being lacking and proudly introduced him to all her friends, including a certain Lee Do Hwa and his quiet best but Baek Kyung. Observing that fondness in her gaze and that quiet relief as she didn't try to occupy the space but just let herself be herself, made Nam Ju wonder why they parted so harshly that he grew to be annoyed by her. What had she specifically done to him? He couldn't tell.

"It's gonna get crowded in here." Do Hwa commented as somebody knocked at the door again. All eyes fell on it, Baek Kyung the most curious to find out who else could possible care about him. It was Ju Da. Of course, it was sweet, dutiful Yeo Ju Da. Kyung and Dan Oh shared an eye roll at the reminder of the love triangle. But Ju Da walked to the bed after awkward salutations and asked: "Are you okay?"

"I am." Baek Kyung replied, indulging an engaging kindness in his tone. Ju Da smiled back, wide and benevolent. And he didn't hate it. Perhaps, he was still a little dizzy from the fainting, because he definitely wasn't one for sentiments. But with all these people around him, Baek Kyung started to wonder if he truly was alone? And it seemed that the answer was no.

That, well, that made him a little lighter. Happier? Was that happiness? A bit of the weight lifted off of his chest? He'd take it. And he'd worked on getting better at it, enjoying thelittle things. Maybe Dan Oh didn't have to be his end goal then. Maybe it was even unfair to make her the sole bearer of his happiness. She couldn't exist just to make him happy. That'd be a sad life for her. Unless he found a way to make her happy too...

_Clearly, there was a ton of work left to do._


End file.
